Kingdom of the Stone, a Fantasy story

Chapter One

Kingdom of the Stone

J. A. Partridge

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ISBN-13: 978-1442142831

ISBN-10: 1442142839

Also by J. A Partridge

The Chronicles of the First Age

Kingdom of the Stone
The Stone King
Kingdom of Shadow (Coming Soon)

Other Works

Always and Forever: A Tanabata Story

Colony of the Dead
The Ascent
Wars of the Magearchy

For more information visit:

www.JAPartridge.com

Kingdom of the Stone

Chapter One

Six days before the spring solstice, nearly a sennight before the feast of the greening, Karux died at the foot of the sacred mountain Archetor.

Karux, his cousins Theris and Macander, and all the young men of their tribe who had come of age that year had spent the previous day tramping along the dusty trails of that most sacred mountain from which the first man had descended and up which the last man would one day ascend. Their fathers trudged along behind, urging the boys not to run too far ahead as the excited youths sang and danced their way up the steep ground.

“Ai! Karux!” Theris called out. “Do you know what I will do?”

“What?” Karux twirled his self-made spear of fire-hardened thornwood. The flint spearhead grazed his cheek just below his right eye. He touched the spot and checked his fingers for blood.

Theris grinned. “I shall catch the largest stag anyone has ever seen! I will roast it for my dinner and bring its antlers home to hang over my father’s door.”

“Ha!” Karux gave him a shove. “Tomorrow you will dine on nothing but moss and roots. You will sleep no more than a stone’s throw from camp and come slinking back at first light to beg for leftover scraps.”

“When you see me two days hence, you will call me Theris the great hunter and plead for a piece of meat. If you beg my pardon, maybe I’ll toss you a bone whose marrow you may suck.”

Karux thrust his spear between Theris’ feet, nearly catching an ankle. Theris hopped over it and swung his spear at Karux’s head. Karux blocked it and crowed his victory.

“Enough, you two! Those aren’t practice staves,” Naipho, Theris’ father called out from down the line. “End it now or I shall thump your thick heads with them.”

Karux and Theris shouldered their spears and fell into step sniggering.

As the day warmed and the path steepened, conversation lagged leaving only the shuffling of feet and the gasping of thirsty boys. During a pause on the edge of a high cliff to rest and drink from their waterskins, Karux looked out over the headwaters of the Pardos. A line of trees stretched across the western horizon marking, he thought, the edge of the distant Burat River. He knew the land between the two rivers ran southwards to the ocean and he turned in that direction hoping to catch a faint gleam of water on the horizon.

“Adra? When will we get to the sacred mountain?” Macander asked Naipho.

“We’re already there; at least we’re on the shoulders of the mountain.”

Macander choked and put down his waterskin while Theris laughed and slapped him on the back. At ten years of age Macander should have been too young to endure the z’taema, but he adored his brother Theris and would not be left behind. Naipho had only relented because everything Macander did seemed blessed by the High Lord himself.

“Truly? Have we returned?”

Naipho pointed to the mountain peak towering over them from the southeast and chuckled. “That is where the High Lord lives. Only the Simarrah, the promised one, will find the path of return.”

Karux stared at the mountain, looking for a path up its sheer stone sides. The weight of its holiness bore down on him as if the High Lord himself were leaning over Archetor’s slopes, peering at him through the clouds.

“Rest time is over,” Arrain, Karux’s father, called out. “Let’s get moving. We want to make it to the spring before dark.”

The men started moving the more reluctant boys while others like Theris and Karux rushed to the front. Amantis, Theris’ odious cousin from the “civilized” tribes between the two rivers caught up to them.

“Guess what I shall do?”

Karux and Theris ignored him.

“What will you do?” Macander asked.

Theris flung Macander a dark look that made him flinch.

“I shall climb the mountain itself to its very summit and knock on the door of the Most High.”

“Arrogant,” Karux muttered and picked up the pace.

“Do you truly think you could be the Son of the Mountain?” Macander asked.

“Who knows?” Amantis said casually as if what he had proposed was nothing more than a fishing trip, rather than the height of sacrilege. “It could be any one of us. Is it not said that someday one will come down from the mountain to lead us all back to the High Lord’s home?”

“But you?” Theris challenged.

Amantis shrugged. “One must go up before one can come down. If no one else will do it, why not me?”

Karux heard the conceit in his voice. He didn’t have to look back to see the smug smile.

-=====|==

Later that hot and dusty afternoon as the lowering sun perched on the western foothills, the travelers came upon a small, cold spring rushing from a pile of well-worn rocks. The men set up camp and started a fire while many of the boys played in the spring’s ice-cold waters. They ate their meal and watched the light fade from the sky. The men told their sons stories of their adras, their fathers, and the lives they lived when the Pelahin tribe still wandered the hill country from the stormy coastal shores of the northeast along the arc of the Pelahi Mountains to the fae-haunted forests of the south. They told their stories of struggle and deprivation with such delight that Karux began to wonder if they regretted having settled down in semi-permanent camps in the northern valleys and surrounding foothills.

As night fell, the fire burned down to glowing coals and the stars wheeled in the sky. The talk turned to older tales. Uncle Naipho recounted how Andrae and Cynae, the first man and woman, were lured from the High Lord’s home upon the mountain, condemning all the tribes of man to wander forever homeless across the world, unable to find the path of return.

“Forever? But what of the Simarrah?” Macander asked.

“Well, not forever, only until the day of judgment when the world is brought under subjection to the Lord of the Mountain. Then he’ll send the Son of the Mountain….”

Karux noticed Amantis watching the exchange, his eyes glowing red in the light of the fire, a smile twisting his face. “If He is the Creator, why is not the world now subject to Him?”

“He is. It is only for the sake of Andrae, Cynae and their children that he has not passed judgment on the world which even now stands condemned—.”

“But why would he condemn his own world?” Amantis asked, his voice a sly challenge.

“Because of Synngael… and the war among the elementals, and… uh, Arrain? Might you help me here?”

Karux’s father smiled as if enjoying his brother’s discomfort. He stroked his beard, leaned back against a gnarled tree and gathered his thoughts. “As I recall, it all began when E’yom first prepared to create the world….” He then told the story of how the Creator summoned his servants, the spirits of the winds and the waters, the flame and the stone and revealed to them the plan for his newest creation: a house, and not just a house, but children who would live in it with him. Children like himself whom he could love and who would rule by his side and share in his glory.

While most of his servants were amazed by his plans, Synngael, the greatest of his servants, grew displeased. It was his job to hold up the mantle of the Lord’s glory, that all of creation might bow before it.

Arrain was a good storyteller. Though they had all heard the story of how Synngael’s faithfulness had turned by degrees into arrogance and then rebellion, yet they listened with rapt attention as Synngael, refusing to give up his high place and subject himself to dust, placed the mantle of glory on himself, burning himself horribly. War between the servants followed and the story kept them all in rapt attention, waiting breathlessly for the moment when the High Lord himself cried out “Halt!”

Arrain’s voice echoed between the hills, silencing the crickets and the night birds. The fire had died down to hissing coals which glowed blood red. Karux sleepily rubbed the smoke from his eyes as his father told of how the Lord stepped into the elemental chaos the war had produced and dragged the mantle of his glory through the mess, producing the world which lay turning in his mantle like a fish in a net. He stretched that net over the vast dark Void from which the world had been drawn and cast Synngael and all his evil spirits, the n’kroi, down into its depths to await punishment. Those spirits that had remained faithful, the n’mati, would live with him at the top of Archetor.

But a third of those beings, the n’phesh, who had neither rebelled nor defended his glory were sent out into the rest of the world to await his judgment. Some were given bodies of animals and other living things while others remained spirits of wind or rain or even fire. These spirits would wander about the face of the world until they had finished becoming and had shown by their actions whether they were bound for the mountain or the pit.

“But if the Lord truly knew—,” Amantis began.

“That is enough for one night,” Arrain cut him off. “You all have a long day ahead of you and you have lost precious sleep. Let the time of silence begin now and let none of you speak again until you return to this camp two dawns hence.

The boys spread their blankets while the men gathered wood and stoked up the fire. Amantis spread his blanket next to Karux. “I will climb to the mountain’s summit tomorrow,” he whispered defiantly. “You will see.”

Irritated, Karux snatched up his blanket. Though strongly tempted to break the ban on speaking to tell Amantis just how stupid, arrogant and blasphemous he thought Amantis was, he moved to Theris’ other side. Though the ground was rockier there, he was confident he slept more soundly all the same.

-=====|==

Arrain woke Karux while dawn was still just a faint smudge of light on the horizon. The cool air hung absolutely still and dew clung to the leaves of the mountain brush, though it failed to prevent the campsite’s dust from rising under the scuffing of the boys’ sandaled feet. Karux sat up and rubbed his eyes as the others rose silently about him. Each man handed his son his self-made spear, a bladder with a double handful of water, and a length of leather cord. They each also received a small copper knife with a three-inch blade. The metal would dull more quickly than a stone knife, yet each boy treasured his, for that piece of copper represented more wealth than any of them had ever held. A silent embrace and a gentle shove sent each boy on his way into the wilderness.

Because they were expected to undergo the ordeal alone, they fanned out as they left the campsite. Karux first sought a stream to collect more water and, perhaps to spear a fish for dinner. Having camped near the source of the Pardos, it was not hard to find such a stream. Unfortunately, others had the same idea. He saw three or four boys along the creek bank and heard more crashing through the distant brush. Drinking his fill, Karux saw only minnows, tadpoles and water striders living in the small stream, so he crossed to the other side.

He continued moving uphill, always to put more space between him and his fellow adventurers, and found himself suddenly at the base of the holy mountain itself. He had no intention of climbing the mountain and had quite forgotten Amantis’ vain boasting. But as he stared up its steep sides, he saw a natural stair leading to an outcropping some fifty feet or so up the mountain. Thinking of spying out a good place to make his camp, he began to ascend.

He had not climbed long before all thought of making camp vanished from his mind. For the more he climbed, the more he began to suspect that this was no natural stair, but perhaps some ancient man-made one. At one point he paused and looked down from a dizzying height on the forest spread out like a wrinkled green woolen blanket. Stunned, he watched a hawk circle below him searching for prey. Looking up, the mountain’s top seemed tantalizingly close. The stair ended in a cleft in the cliff’s wall only a few yards away. Karux scrambled upwards until he saw a glint of light and the whole world went white.

-=====|==

Macander watched his father send his brother Theris off into the wilderness with a skin of water and a shiny copper knife and worried that he would not be allowed to participate. His father gave him a long silent look and Macander’s heart lurched with disappointment. Reaching into a pouch, Naipho produced a second copper knife and Macander exhaled his pent up breath.

“Your mother didn’t want you to go, as you’re so young. She only agreed by making me promise to give you this.” Naipho produced a small skin pouch and handed it over with the knife.

Macander accepted them wordlessly and looked inside the pouch. His mother had packed five small loaves of keleos nut bread. Obviously she worried he might somehow starve to death over the short two days of their quest. He wanted to say something, but remembered the ban on speaking.

Naipho’s hand fell on his shoulder. “I know you will do well. All the same, don’t stray too far from the camp—for my peace of mind if for no other reason.”

Macander nodded, accepted a skin of water and turned toward the wilderness. When he was out of site of the camp, he fished through the pouch and tossed the bread. He spent the rest of the morning pulling green caru shoots and ukasha blossoms and stuffing them in the pouch. A small brook lay close by. He had food and water, so he began looking for a place to camp when he heard a rustle in the nearby brush.

Macander glanced around suspiciously, thinking of his brother. Theris would love to sneak up and terrorize him in the middle of the night and send him crying back to the men’s encampment. Macander readied his spear and crept to the spot from which the sound had come. He thought he heard a snort, as of muffled laughter, so he crouched ready to spring.

“Ha!” He thrust his spear into the brush. He heard a startled grunt and an explosion of movement. Leaping over the bush, he chased something brown as it crashed through the brush.

A panicked antelope smashed into a thick hedge of tanglethorn, thrashing to free its horns from the brambles. It yanked itself free as Macander ran up. Scrambling to its feet snorting, it lowered its head as if to charge, then darted to the side. Macander, though he had no desire to harm it, felt compelled to follow as it raced away and leaped from the top of a nearby hill. He peered over the eight-foot drop from the hill’s edge. The animal stumbled, tried to rise and stumbled again, struggling and failing to stand.

Macander climbed carefully down from the ledge as the antelope exhausted itself trying to limp away on a broken leg. He caught up to where it finally dropped and lay quivering. Macander held the head of the heaving sweating thing. With deep regret he placed his bright copper knife to the antelope’s neck. It slid easily through the flesh and severed the large artery in its throat. As the blood spilled out and its breathing stilled, Macander looked back at the cliff and wondered how he would drag the beast back up. He looked around, hoping to find a shallower path back. The sacred mountain towered over him blocking all ways south and east.

As he surveyed the landscape, he noticed a curious shape on the rocks beneath the mountain. Macander approached, unable at first to recognize the thing sprawled across the rocks in a spray of blood. Then recognition struck him with a cold wave of nausea.

It was Karux.

3: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Amantis left the clearing and headed straight for the mountain. He had a vague idea that if he could climb high enough to be seen from the camp, he’d show Karux and the rest of those goat-turds something. He only needed to be seen climbing the mountain and he could tell them pretty much anything he wanted about reaching the top and they’d have to believe him. He could even claim to be the Simarrah and they would have to admit they saw him going up.

He spent nearly an hour scrambling over the foothills before reaching the western face of the mountain. Standing before the broken rocks at its base, each stone larger than a house, Amantis tried to plot a path upwards. The whole western side of the mountain consisted of a straight vertical wall of rock broken into a series of rough ledges. He thought he could see part of a path fifty feet or so up, but no way to get to it.

With a sigh, he turned aside and followed the base of the mountain. Hoping to find a spring and then go looking for some food, he rounded a particularly large boulder and spied a cave that led into the mountain. It would make a good shelter, he thought. He crept inside, wondering how far back the cave went and caught a faint glimpse of light.

He closed his eyes and gave them time to adjust to the darkness. Something whispered like wind blowing through the back of the cave. The noise, sounded like muffled words and grew nearer as he approached though without getting louder. Amantis opened his eyes and a watery flicker of light reflected on the cave ceiling. The light came from a small black stone lying in a natural shelf of the cave wall. Though tiny pin pricks of light shone from it, the stone’s surface reflected no light. It appeared as a flat, irregularly shaped blackness, as if it were an infinite hole in space and the pin pricks of light were stars. Amantis picked up the strangely cold and heavy stone feeling as if he were holding the entire night sky in his hand. The star-like lights grew brighter as if nearing, and filled the cave with an icy blue gleam. The whispering words, now intelligible, sounded from within his own head.

Anything is possible to him who chooses to grasp that which he desires.

-=====|==

Macander’s muscles tensed as if his brother Theris had just punched him in the gut. He forced a gasping breath and scrambled over the rocks to Karux.

Blood matted Karux’s hair, covering his face and the rock on which he lay. His skin looked pale and felt cool when Macander prodded him, urging him to awake.

A strangled scream rose in Macander’s throat. He turned, emptied his meager breakfast on the ground, and with a last horrified glance at Karux, ran screaming for the men’s camp. He covered the ground between, the same ground he had taken more than half the day to cross, in what seemed only a couple of minutes.

“Help! Help! Karux is hurt!” He screamed as he approached the camp. The men sitting around the fire bolted upright as he neared. Feeling like a foolish child, the tears began to flow at the site of his father and uncle and the other men of the village. “Karux is hurt,” he bawled, “I think he might be d-d-dead.” His father and Uncle Arrain stood at his side instantly.

“Where is he?” Uncle Arrain's calm voice was rough with suppressed urgency.

“He’s—he’s—” Macander choked out before drowning in fresh sobbing and pointed toward the sacred mountain. “He’s that way.”

Arrain grabbed him by the shoulders. “Show us!”

Macander ran back the way he came, the men loping silently beside him as he stumbling through the tear blinded landscape to the rock on which Karux lay sprawled.

Arrain gathered his son in his arms with a choking sob, calling out to Karux. Naipho knelt next to him with one arm on Arrain, and the other hand pressed against Karux’s neck. After a moment he spoke quietly in Arrain’s ear, “I think I feel a pulse.”

Naipho took Karux’s body from his grief-stricken father and stretched it out on the stone and laid an ear to the boy’s chest. He listened for a long moment then looked up with a grave expression. “I think I hear a heartbeat, but it’s very weak.”

The two men stared at Karux’s unmoving form for a moment, and then Arrain scooped up the body and rose to his feet. “I’m taking him to his mother.”

Macander watched Arrain cradle Karux’s limp body and remembered Arrain’s wife was buried back in their village of Korion-Garanth. She had died years ago attempting to birth Karux’s sister. Karux, himself, was all that Arrain had left of his wife.

“Uh, it’s at least a three day journey to Korion-Garanth and it’s nearly nightfall now,” Naipho said.

Arrain turned away, one lifeless arm dangling behind him. “I’m taking him home.”

“He’s going to die before you get there. He won’t even last the night.”

Arrain stopped and glared back over his shoulder.

For one horrible moment Macander feared Arrain would say something so angry and hateful that his brother would never forgive him, but he just turned away.

“We’re going home.”

Other boys appeared, responding to Macander’s earlier cries for help. They called to each other, the speaking ban forgotten as they ran up to the knot of grim-faced men, only to fall silent at the sight of the blood splattered rock. Everyone watched Arrain carry Karux to the distant hills, not speaking until he had disappeared into the brush.

“What happened?” Theris whispered, looking at his father and the other men with wide frightened eyes.

“Karux fell,” Naipho said and walked away.

Theris looked at the blood covered rock, then up the wall of stone behind him. “From the sacred mountain?”

The men left for camp. Most of the boys disappeared back into the wilds.

Theris followed Macander. “But how is that even possible?”

“I don’t know.” Macander stopped at the fallen antelope and grabbed its horns. “Help me drag this back to camp.”

Theris looked back and forth between Macander and the antelope in astonishment.

-=====|==

When Amantis returned to the village with the men and their sons, it buzzed with the news of how Arrain had walked all day and night back to the korion with Karux’s body in his arms. Though he found the idea of Karux impending death mildly interesting, the single-minded focus on Karux’s health and Arrain’s grief irritated him. Learning Karux had not in fact actually died, he felt somehow cheated which only increased his ill temper. Had their positions been reversed and he was the one lying broken in bed, possibly dying, he had no illusions the event would not have largely passed unnoticed.

Amantis prowled around the circle of crude stone huts comprising his adopted tribe’s village. No, he thought. Not adopted. He had no intention of staying there one day longer than he absolutely had to. He only needed a way of escape, some resource he could use to provide for himself in the cities of the plain. Amantis squeezed the stone hidden in a hastily fashioned pouch of rabbit skin hanging from his belt. As he walked, he eyed his neighbors’ animal paddocks and tools, the sum total of what passed for wealth in their backwards korion.

He had no memory of the city from which he’d come. He’d been too young when his father had tossed him out like a deformed animal that needed to be culled from the herd. But he was certain their buildings were bigger, their clothes were better and everyone was wealthier and smarter than in this simple herders’ village.

“Hey, Manless! What have you got in the skin?”

Amantis braced himself for Pronos’ attack of humor. Pronos and his brother Somek were older and loved to amuse themselves at the expense of anyone younger or weaker than themselves. He gripped the bag more firmly. “A stone,” he said.

“A stone? Decided you’re tired of sucking at slinging? Give it up. You’ll never be any good.”

“No,” Amantis replied derisively. “You know I do not play your stupid goat-turd games. Besides, it’s not that kind of stone. It’s a seer stone.”

“A seer stone? What’s that mean? Does it have eyes?”

“No. It helps you see things–visions–things you can’t see with your eyes.”

“Hey! Somek!” Pronos called. His brother paused in his throwing pebbles at the neighbor’s chickens. “Manless here says he’s got some sort of eyeball stone.”

“Eyeball stone? What’s it do?”

“He says you can see things with it.”

“Hit him in the head with it and he’ll see stars. Ha ha!”

“Show it to us,” Pronos insisted. “Let’s see it.”

“Yeah, hand it here.” Somek stepped up uncomfortably close and towered over Amantis.

Amantis took a step back, preparing to run. “I can’t. The stone can’t see the light.”

“I thought you said it was a seeing stone,” Pronos sneered.

“The light will hurt it. You can only look at it in the dark.”

“You won’t see much then,” Somek laughed.

“If it can only be in the dark, how did you even find it?” Pronos ask skeptically.

“It whispered to me.”

“Whispered?”

“Yes, I found it in a cave at the base of the sacred mountain.”

Pronos and Somek took an involuntary step back and exchanged puzzled looks. “You found this on the sacred mountain?”

“In it, yes.”

They frowned at him for a long moment; then Somek burst out laughing. “I think Manless is spewing crap at us again.” He punched Pronos on the shoulder. “I can’t believe you fell for it.”

“Aw, I didn’t believe him.” Pronos rubbed at his arm. “Everyone knows he’s full of crap anyway.”

Rage flared up in Amantis. He hated not being believed, especially on those occasions when he had no intention of manipulating anyone. He was simply telling them what had happened.

“I’ll prove it to you,” he growled through clenched teeth. “Come back tonight, after sundown. Ask any question you like, any secret you’d like exposed, any lost thing you’d like found, and it will give the answer.”

“Yeah, maybe you can use it to find your missing manhood,” Somek laughed as they walked away.

“Any question!” he shouted after them across the commons. “I can reveal anyone’s secret!” A dozen people going about their business paused to look at Amantis. Pronos and Somek just laughed. “Come back tonight!” Amantis shouted, his voice breaking in frustration.

-=====|==

Singing. A woman singing a gentle lullaby. Was it his mother? Warm darkness, a cool moist cloth on the forehead and pain, distant angry pain gnawing sleepily at knees, elbows, ribs and back, threatening to wake at any moment to tear his body apart. A pressure on his head like a heavy rock pressing down. Only the gentle touch of a soft hand against his face brought any relief.

Karux opened his eyes. The light brought more pain as it stabbed into his brain. Blinking the world into focus, he forgot his pain as Charissa, the most beautiful girl in the world, smiled sweetly down at him.

He had known her all his life, but it in recent months things had become awkward between them as it became obvious that they were no longer quite children. The other boys may have preferred larger, plumper girls, but Karux saw a certain grace in her slight build that other girls seemed to lack. He had been outraged to learn that Charissa’s great aunt had once suggested that the girl’s slight build, her light auburn curls and lightly tanned skin meant that Charissa would grow to be a sickly child and that she should have been exposed to the elements, or at least forbidden to marry and have children. Karux felt her appearance made her stand out from the nearly uniform brown skin and straight black hair of the rest of their tribe, like a flower among a bunch of brown weeds. He especially appreciated her bright hazel eyes flashing over the freckled ridge of her perpetually sun burned nose and cheeks. He would have loved to tell her these things as he stared breathlessly into her eyes, but somehow the words would never come out and his own cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

“Theris!” she bellowed, making his ears ring. “He’s awake! Go tell Arrain!”

Karux’s voice croaked, “Where am I?” He saw a roof over his head. “Did I miss the festival?”

“Oh, Karux!” Charissa threw herself across him, hugging him and sobbing into his chest. The joy and novelty of the experience fought with the protests from his ribs. “We thought you were dead! You’ve been asleep for days and you wouldn’t wake up.”

“There, there,” he tried to comfort her, patting her awkwardly with one free hand as she lay across him sobbing, pinning his elbows against his sides. “I’m well enough now. I’ll soon mend.”

She sobbed against him for a while; the smell of her hair warmed and comforted him like fresh bread. Karux ignored his complaining ribs, holding his breath in an agony of pleasure. She finally rose, brushing back her long hair and wiping at her tears.

He longed to do that, if only to touch her face tenderly, but feared he would look silly, like a child pretending to be a man, unaware of how foolish he looked.

“I can’t tell you how worried we were,” she sniffed and took his hand, then paused to stare at his clenched fist.

“Do you have something in your hand?”

Karux raised his right hand and willed it to open, yet it remained tightly clenched, enclosing some small hard object. How was it possible, he wondered, that his hand wouldn’t obey him? He grabbed his resistant fingers with his left hand and pulled, his growing fear helping him to push past the pain. Slowly the fingers relented and a glittering stone fell out onto the blanket. As clear as water, with smooth straight edges, the stone caught a stray beam of light and Karux’s world went white.

He remembered a vast cave of light so intense the shadows seemed to have been blasted from the rocks themselves. He remembered a presence, an awareness that examined him inside and out as a man in the river markets might inspect a garment he considered buying. He remembered an encircling, swirling cloud of countless millions of bright and glittering creatures of wind and flame and mist. And he remembered the future unrolled before him like a tapestry as he was shown horrible things. He saw—

Bazma, fully grown, lying in Macander’s arms. “Don’t let me be buried in a foreign land,” he gasped, bright blood oozing between Macander’s fingers from a hole under his ribs.

They were both dressed in strange clothes, carrying spears and a large disc like the lid to a wicker basket wrapped in hardened leather.

“We’re the only ones left who remember the hills of the Pelahi,” Bazma said.

“There’s always Karux,” Macander replied.

Bazma’s laugh turned into a horrible eruption of gurgling coughs and bright blood spilled from his mouth. “Karux has been to the top of the mountain. He sees nothing else, not even the ground he stands on.”

“True.”

And he saw—

A field plowed as if for the spring planting, but sown with the dismembered bodies of men while man-shaped beasts with horns and claws lapped the blood flowing between the rows.

And—

Charissa, lying naked in a fancy bed, her belly ripped open, her blood soaking the sheets and pooling on the floor. “I had always hoped my child would have been yours, Karux.” She sucked in a great shuddering gulp of air. “Promise me you will kill it.”

A despairing scream rose up somewhere in the distance and everything went black.

4: Chapter Three

Chapter Three

A group of youth had gathered about the village well one late afternoon. Their mothers had sent the girls to fetch water for the evening meal, but they stood around the well laughing at Amantis’ scene while a group of older boys drew the water for them, or at least for the more attractive girls.

Macander joined them as Nyrana picked up a small stone and held it near her head. “Hi, I’m a talking rock!” she squeaked in a silly voice, waggling the rock as if it were speaking. “Do you want to hear a secret?”

“Oh yes! Yes!” squealed Sjaiwa, laughing.

“Amantis wets his bed.”

Everyone burst into laughter except for Macander who merely smiled. Though Amantis seemed to go out of his way to annoy people, Macander knew Amantis’ behavior would not improve if he were to hear this.

Bazma’s older brother Garick, who had been hanging around Sjaiwa a lot lately, joined in. “Of course I wet the bed!” He lifted his nose in the air and imitated Amantis’ voice. “All the lowland tribes wet their beds. Everyone knows that. They’re very moist people. It keeps them healthy and young looking unlike all you old dried up goat turds you!”

More laughter followed until Bazma came running up.

“Garick! Have you seen Trago?” He asked, referring to his prized goat.

Garick, who only had eyes for Sjaiwa, didn’t look at him. “No. Why?”

“He’s missing.”

“So, why are you asking me?”

Bazma grabbed his arm and wrenched him around. “You brought your animals into the paddock last. Did you close the gate?”

Garick shrugged Bazma off and turned back to Sjaiwa who filled her jug from the well’s bucket. “Of course I did.”

“Then how did he get out?”

Garick squared off against his brother as if ready to fight. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“You said you closed the gate. He was there when I left.”

“So just what are you saying?”

“Perhaps you should have Amantis find it with his seeker stone,” Macander suggested.

The girls burst into shrieks of laughter.

“Good one,” Garick laughed.

“Don’t be stupid,” Bazma scowled.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Sjaiwa said.

“Me too,” Garick abruptly added, “We should challenge Amantis to find it after the evening meal.”

The girls took the water back and the boys hung around until the food was ready. In the spring and summer evenings, the families often ate their meals together on long trestle tables set up in the common area. Amantis usually sat with the adults or at the end of an isolated table. This time, however he found himself surrounded by all the peers that normally rejected him.

“My brother could use some help here,” Garick said setting his trencher down next to Amantis. Bazma looked up at his brother from the opposite side of the table with a guarded expression. “He needs you to use your special… thing to find a missing buck.”

“That’s funny.” Theris sitting at a nearby table, muttered around a mouthful of roasted tuber covered in goat cheese. “He usually goes after the does with his special thing.” He smiled and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Amantis scowled at Theris.

“Ignore him.” Garick gave a dismissive wave toward Theris. “He has no idea what we’re talking about—as usual.”

“Nor does he care,” Theris added, waving a piece of bread.

Amantis squinted at Garick. “Does that mean you believe me?”

Garick shrugged good-naturedly. “Let’s say we’re willing to give you a chance.”

“Fair enough. Meet me in the commons after sundown.”

After the meal, Macander’s mother set him to helping with the cleanup while the older boys left. It nearly drove him mad with the fear he would miss whatever happened next.

“Madra, can I help find Bazma’s lost goat?”

Sairu didn’t even look up from the bucket of soapy water. “Bazma’s lost a goat?”

“Yes and Garick and Theris and some others are going to help him find it.”

“I don’t know, dear. It’s almost dark. There soon won’t be enough light to search.”

“I know, but Amantis thinks he can find it.”

“Amantis? I didn’t think Theris’ friends liked him much.”

“They don’t, but he says he can help.”

“Very well, you can go, but stick with your brother—and I want you back before it gets very late!” she shouted the last as he raced off to the commons.

He arrived in plenty of time to join the search since, though the sun had set, plenty of summer light lingered in the sky and Amantis refused to open his pouch until the sky was completely dark. No one spoke much as they waited. Garick and Sjaiwa whispered and chuckled quietly together while the rest fiddled irritably with rocks or bits of sticks in growing boredom, eyeing Amantis with unreadable expressions as he stood apart.

Macander, lying on the grass and watching the color drain from the sky like fading autumn leaves, wondered what would happen if Amantis didn’t live up to his boast and how ugly it might get.

The first stars appeared in the lavender trimmed skies and Macander remembered the creation story Uncle Arrain had told them and how the Lord of the Mountain had dredged the mantle of his glory through the elemental chaos to produce the world. He thought about the Void left behind, the Void where the n’kroi had been imprisoned, the Void over which the world hung. As the sky faded to black, he wondered whether instead of looking up into the sky he were not actually clinging to the underside of a giant ball, staring down into gaping emptiness. He felt the slightest movement would cause him to tear loose and fall forever into the endless realms of evil madness. He knew it wouldn’t happen, but he couldn’t help but clutch at the grass and feel a faint upward pull toward the Void.

“Very well, I think it’s dark enough now.”

“Yeah, Amantis, let’s see this stone do its thing,” Garick said.

Amantis looked up at the sky and frowned at the moons. They had risen early, full and bright. They wouldn’t set for hours yet. He walked over to an old oak tree and stood in the deepest part of its shadow. “I think this will do.”

All the youth silently rushed to his side, grumbling as they jostled to get close to Amantis. Macander wondered if Amantis was enjoying the attention.

Though little more than a shadow within a shadow, Macander watched him pull out his skin pouch and open it up. Everyone leaned in close and began talking excitedly until Amantis shut the bag and demanded they shut up. After much hushing and whispering the group fell silent as they held their collective breath. Amantis opened the bag again.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, then Macander thought he saw a faint silvery light reflected off Amantis’ tunic. Those closest to the pouch leaned inward as the light grew brighter. A sudden gust of wind shook the trees, moaning with words that were almost intelligible. Macander felt the hairs on his arms stand up and he could have sworn the gravity had shifted and begun to pull upward.

Macander backed away, refusing to look in the bag. The light flared until he could see the expressions of rapt wonder and horror on everyone’s faces, then it faded. Amantis closed the bag. Everyone stood a moment in silence, then Amantis said, “Light the torch.” Someone knelt and Macander heard the lid of an ember pot rattle and saw Bazma blowing in small ceramic pot of glowing coals. He added straw which caught fire and held it to a torch. Then, without a word, they all turned and walked off to the pastures.

Sjaiwa, who hadn’t been close enough to see inside the bag, asked, “Uh, where are we going?”

“To find the goat,” Garick said.

“But where is it?”

“Follow Amantis, he knows.”

Sjaiwa looked from one to the other, but everyone only stared ahead determinedly as they crossed the pasture into the rough hills beyond. She gave Macander a questioning look but he didn’t know what to say, so he shrugged and followed the rest.

Once in the hills, Amantis turned up a narrow defile and stopped before the torn and bloody remains of Bazma’s prize goat.

“Void take it.” Bazma muttered his curse. No one else said anything. Sjaiwa clung to Garick who seemed to shake himself awake and pat his brother’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Baz”

The others muttered their condolences and the group broke up and wandered back across the pasture, occasionally speaking to each other in low voices.

Macander hurried home as fast as he could without actually breaking into a panicked run. He felt an urgent need to get inside and out from under the pull of the stars.

— = = = = = | = =

The sun had set when Karux woke again, though for all he knew it may have risen and set a dozen times since he last woke. He found it a little less painful to raise his head, so he looked around and realized he had been sleeping in Theris’ house, no doubt at the insistence of his aunt Sairu. The house was a typical short stone square covered in white plaster with a thatched roof. It had one rectangular great room and two smaller side rooms. The whole thing was a little over six hundred square feet and was considered quite large for the village.

Hearing him move, Theris rushed over. “I see you are back among the living now. How do you feel?”

Karux groaned. “Like someone dropped a mountain on me.” Then, suddenly remembering his vision, he grabbed the front of Theris’ tunic with his good hand. “I saw the future!”

“I hope not.” Theris peeled Karux’s hand off. “You were screaming like a madman. You scared the whole village”

“I did see it. And it was horrible. People are going to die. A lot of people.”

“Look, Karux. You’ve just had some sort of fit. Your eyes rolled up in your head, you got all stiff and you started shaking all over. I don’t think you really saw anything.”

“It was the stone!” Karux tried to sit up and look around and grew dizzy. “What happened to the stone I was holding?”

Theris found it on a small wall shelf. He held it out to Karux who hesitated before cautiously taking it and shoving it back in his permanently clenched fist.

“It had to be the stone. It made me remember the mountain and it showed me the vision.”

Theris shook his head. “Oh, not you too.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Why are we all suddenly plagued by mysterious stones with strange powers?”

“Theris, what are you talking about?”

Theris gave Karux a disgusted scowl. “Amantis is claiming to have found a stone that shows him things as well.”

“Amantis? What?”

“He found a stone. He says it was in a cave in the sacred mountain. It supposedly talks to him and shows him things.”

“Did he say anything about an attack by monsters?”

“No.”

“Do you believe him?”

Theris shrugged. “Macander saw him use the stone to find Bazma’s prized goat. He came back pretty spooked. The other boys seem to think it was real. Though knowing Amantis, I wouldn’t be surprised if he stole the goat himself.”

Amantis! Karux couldn’t believe it. Amantis was the last person he would ever want to turn to for help, but if he truly had such a stone, Karux would have to talk to him. Perhaps the stones were meant to work together. But Amantis… why did it have to be him?

— = = = = = | = =

Amantis was sitting under a tree carving on a stray bit of stick with his bright copper knife when Pronos walked up and stared down at him.

“How did you do it?” Pronos demanded.

“Do what?”

“Make the stone… do all that.”

“You’ll have to ask the Lord of the Mountain about that.” Amantis glared back. “That’s where I found it.”

“You mean it’s not a trick?”

“No.”

“And it will tell you things?”

Amantis smirked. “Yes.”

Pronos seemed to slowly work over the implications in his head. “What are you going to do with it?”

“I don’t know. They say that copper sometimes washes down from the mountains. I could easily find some with the stone.”

Pronos’ eyes lit up with the possibilities. “Yeah, I bet we could find a lot of copper with that. We could go to the river markets and trade it for anything we wanted!”

“We?”

“Well, I could help. You know, in case you needed to dig or move rocks. No offense, but I’m bigger than you. You might need my help carrying it all.”

Amantis considered it. “Possibly, but the stone won’t talk to anyone else. You’ll have to listen to me and do what I say.”

“Sure.” Pronos grinned. “No problem. Er,” Pronos looked at him a little sheepishly, “can Somek come as well?”

Amantis looked at the big dumb oaf. He didn’t know what good a lot of copper would do him, there wasn’t that much he cared to trade it for. But a couple of big oxen that would be willing to do what he said might be very useful. “Why not?”

— = = = = = | = =

Karux stood once more in the cave of light looking out over the lands between the rivers. As he watched, shadowy black creatures rose up out of the ground, stood on their hind feet and began roving the countryside from horizon to horizon, leaving a cloud of ash behind. Wherever the ash fell everything died so that all the lands near the horizon quickly grew black, encircling the green lands nearby.

A whispering moan, like the voice of the wind itself, spoke from somewhere behind him. “The enemy has decided to destroy all that it cannot command. It will not be long before everything falls under the shadow of the Void.”

A second voice, like the fluttering hiss of a mighty fire, spoke behind him. “We cannot help them if they do not call our names, and they cannot call our names if they do not know them.”

A hushing gurgle replied, “There is one who knows our names. She has known our names and our shapes from birth, but she has no voice to tell them.”

Karux waited, expecting to hear this person named, but no reply came. Then he recognized a fourth voice so deep and rumbling that it was more felt than heard. It had already begun speaking.

“Someone must be sent to speak for her. Someone must warn them of the approaching curse. Someone must go down there and call our names. But who will do that?”

Karux waited again for the next voice to speak out, for someone to name the messenger to be sent, but the voices had fallen silent. He watched the shadow spread across the coastal lands and begin to drift beyond the rivers. He couldn’t see his tribe’s hill country from where he stood, so he didn’t know if his family and friends had already fallen under the killing ash, but as the shadow grew and the green lands shrank, the continued silence became oppressive. If he had not felt their gaze upon his back, he would have thought himself alone. He turned around to confront them, to demand a messenger be named, but as he looked upon the swirling spirits of fire and dust and mist he realized that the messenger had already been chosen. The whole dialog had been played out for his benefit. He, Karux, was the messenger to be sent.

Karux balked. The idea of going back down there into that land of suffering and death terrified him. He knew, without knowing why, that the shadow would not reach the mountain. Only the thought of his family and friends dying, their souls possibly lost to the Void, could make him reconsider. He pictured Charissa’s smiling face and lowered his head in resignation.

“I will go. What must I do?”

The spirit beings parted and a blinding beam of light, which seemed to reduce the rest of the cave to darkness by contrast, fell upon him. With it came a presence, a sense of awareness so intense Karux felt like a mere shadow of himself. He dropped to his knees and covered his head with his arms, wishing he could sink into the stone itself–except that not even the stone could hide him.

A hand grasped him firmly by the upper arms and pulled him upwards while a human voice whispered in his ear, “Rise and look up, for you have found favor in the High One’s sight.”

Karux rose and looked around squinting, but could see no sign of who had helped him up. He struggled to look directly into the light, but found it easier when he stopped resisting. Forcing his eyes open, he sensed a warm complex of emotions in the gaze where before it had seemed cold and harsh. He couldn’t imagine why.

“How do I find this person, and what do I do when I find her?”

“You must warn the others of the threat.” The words came from within his head, the memory of words not actually spoken. “You must prepare them for the conflict to come, and you must learn to command my servants. This shall be the sign by which you will know the one who holds their names.”

The light abruptly flared and in the fading afterimage left behind, Karux saw a symbol that looked like a mountain surrounded by a high wall.”

5: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Karux woke in his father’s house. His aunt and uncle had moved him back as soon as he was able to stand and walk with assistance. They never said anything, but he knew they were tired of being awakened during the night and early morning hours by his screaming. The nightmare visions of death and destruction had continued since he first saw the stone, this being the first morning he had awakened peacefully. He lay on his pallet for a while enjoying the moment until his father rushed in to check on him.

“Er, how do you feel?” he asked confusion clearly written on his face.

“Fine,” Karux smiled up at him, knowing his father must have been concerned about the strange silence, but enjoying it anyway. “I think I’ll get up today.”

“Are you certain you’re well enough?”

“I’m tired of lying around,” Karux groaned as he slowly rose to his feet. He reached for a shepherd’s staff and leaned on it trying not to sway too much. “I need to speak with the elders.”

“The elders? Why?”

“The visions. I remembered being on the mountain last night. I was shown a threat that will engulf all the lands between the ocean and the mountain. I must warn them.”

A strange look of caution came over Arrain’s face. “And what would you have them do?”

“We must gather all the tribes and prepare them for the conflict to come.”

“All the tribes? Would you have them just leave their homes and go…go where? Come here?”

Karux tried to envision that conversation. It would not be easy to convince them, but when the disaster came, they would have to flee for their lives. A little planning could save a lot of lives. “We’d have to speak with their elders first, get them to understand the threat they face.”

“What exactly is that threat?”

“I saw beasts that walked like men and everywhere they went, death and destruction follow.”

“Are you sure they are real and not just phantoms from your dreams?”

Karux stared into his father’s eyes, willing him to understand. “They will be real, and they will sweep over us like the wind.”

Arrain paused thoughtfully. “You know I sit among the elders. I’ll speak to them and see what they say.”

Karux watched him leave, the doubt still clearly visible in his father’s eyes. Karux knew Arrain would not be able to convince them. His father didn’t fully believe it himself, so how could he convince those who might be too afraid to believe? He only hoped his father would not oppose him.

-=====|==

An ancient oak grew near the village’s entrance. It was the elders’ custom to sit under that tree, drinking beer from a single large ceramic bowl with straws while talking to anyone coming or going from the village and discussing the issues of the day.

Karux shuffled forward, dragging one leg and leaning heavily on his staff. The elders normally ignored the youth around them when they gathered, but as Karux approached, they fell silent.

Ghett, the most senior of the elders, spoke first. “Greetings, young Karux. It is good to see you recovering. How do you feel today?”

“I am much better. Thank you, bidra, for your concern.”

“Do you have something you wish to speak to us about?”

“I do.” Karux glanced at his stiff-faced father who lowered his eyes in response. Karux could tell that he had already spoken to the others and he had not been believed. Karux knew he had to convince them somehow, he couldn’t hold anything back. “I have a message from the Lord of the Mountain.”

The elders set upright and at least one hissed in surprise and, likely, disapproval. “Are you saying you have been to the top of the mountain?”

“I have. And I have a message from the Lord of the Mountain.”

Thoma, a wiry old man on Ghett’s left interrupted. “You do realize speaking falsely on the Lord’s behalf is a grave offense?”

“I do.”

Several elders took turns whispering urgently in Ghett’s ear a few moments before Ghett could address Karux again. “Very well. What is the message?”

“We are all in very great danger.”

“From whom are we in danger?”

“The n’kroi.”

The elders gasped and one, Rennon, leaped to his feet. “I refuse to sit here and listen to this outrage!”

Karux stood his ground as the elders argued amongst themselves. He knew mentioning the evil spirits of the Void would shock them, but he needed to be taken seriously and so refused any euphemisms, but instead boldly named the ancient enemies of all creation.

Ghett held up a hand and the others quieted down. “I do not think he is lying.”

“What?” Rennon exclaimed, “Are you saying you believe him?”

“No,” Ghett replied calmly, “only that he believes this. Let us speak with him further and perhaps we shall learn why he believes this.”

Rennon slowly took his seat and the elders all turned once more to Karux. “Seeing as the…,” Ghett hesitated at the name n’kroi, “…enemy all lay trapped in the Void beneath the mantle of the Lord’s glory, in what way do they threaten us?”

Karux smiled. “I am not so young that I do not know the sayings of the ancient fathers, of how the spirits of the Void whisper in the ears of the foolish and ignorant and how they may sometimes find allies among the n’phesh–especially the spirits of certain animals.” He knew this last point was the subject of some controversy, but it was still widely believed and at least a couple of elders shuddered at its mention.

“And you say the High Lord told you this?” Ghett continued.

“He showed it to me. When I stood upon the mountain, I saw the future unrolled before me like a blanket.”

“And you saw the evil spirits?” Thoma asked.

“Yes. They rose up out of the ground and first appeared as black and shadowy beasts. Then they stood on two legs like men and everywhere they walked, ashes and death covered the land.”

“Assuming this was true,” Ghett said, “what would you have us do?”

Karux had been thinking about this all day and felt he had determined the correct course of action. “We must gather the leaders of all the tribes between the mountain and the sea. We must find a place to hide the people when the beasts come, and we must make sure all the men are armed with spears and know how to use them.”

Ghett pondered this in the long moment of silence that followed. The other elders looked quietly thoughtful as well and Karux began to hope that he might have convinced some and that they might at least consider it.

Then Ghett sighed. “I’m afraid that none of that is possible. I don’t think we could convince all the tribal elders to gather, nor do I think we could convince them to abandon their homes and move all their people.”

“I doubt we could even find a valley big enough to hold them if we did,” Rennon chimed in.

“No,” Ghett agreed. “All that would be accomplished by this would be the sewing of a lot of fear and confusion and that is one crop, now that I come to think of it, that the spirits of the Void would love to tend.”

“What?” Karux swayed and nearly fell. He was trying to stop the n’kroi. How could they think the n’kroi might be behind this?

“When Naipho’s boy found your son,” Thoma turned to Arrain. “Did he not say he was dead?”

“He thought Karux was dead, but when Naipho and I found him, he was still breathing.”

“Still breathing or resumed breathing?” Rennon cut in.

Arrain stood with his mouth open, unable to reply.

“And when you got him home,” Thoma continued, “did you not expect that he would die?”

Arrain lowered his head and spoke to the ground, “Yes.”

“And was not one of the reasons you thought he would die was that his skull had become cracked in the fall?”

“Well, I did think I felt a crack,” Arrain muttered. “Still, he lived in the end did he not?”

“It is believed by many,” Rennon added with conviction, “that a hard blow, such as a fall, can drive the spirit out of a man, and that if a wandering spirit comes across such a body, they may put it on.”

“What are you suggesting?” Arrain shouted.

“And a cracked skull, “Rennon continued, raising his voice, “may not be able to keep a man’s spirit in his body, or hold a foreign spirit out.”

“My son is not possessed by the n’kroi!”

“Peace!” Ghett cried out, rising from his seat and turning to face the other elders. “He’s obviously trying to stop the …evil ones. I don’t think he’s possessed by one. But with his injury he may not be beyond their influence.”

“Are you saying my visions are from the n’kroi?” Karux demanded.

“Very likely.”

“But I was there! I stood in a cave of light. I saw the High Lord and spoke to his servants. None of this is from the n’kroi, of that I am certain.”

“Yet you awaken the whole korion every night with your screaming. How can that be from the Lord?”

“It is the future! It is what we have to change. We’ve been given a gift and if we ignore it we’ll all be living in that nightmare!”

“Enough!” Ghett declared. “I will not argue with a child. Unless you can show me these visions are from the High Lord, we can do nothing.”

Karux glared at each of them. He wanted to lash out. He wanted to tell them how stupid they were being, how people were going to die because of their cowardice and inability to face the difficult. He wanted to tell them some of the things he’d seen night after night, of villages burning, columns of smoke rising into the sky for miles, of blighted fields and bodies, bodies everywhere, bloated, blackened, eyes pecked out by crows, scattered like rotting leaves in the fall.

He wanted to tell them, but he didn’t. He just turned and walked away.

Warn them of the threat, prepare them for the conflict and learn to command my servants.

That would show them. If he could call down the servants of the Most High, surely that would force them to agree to take action. But how to find their names?

As Karux walked along meditating upon the symbol that would lead him to the one who knew the names of the High Lord’s servants, he passed Eiraena, Dressela’s six-year-old daughter, playing in the dirt.

It had become painfully obvious from her birth that something was wrong with that child. She didn’t respond to other people the way a normal child would. She wouldn’t look at them or respond to their voice. She had never learned to talk and would usually strip off her clothes when she became upset, which was often. From her infancy, she hated to be held and would scream uncontrollably in her mother’s arms. As Karux passed, she sat naked in the dirt, carefully arranging rocks as she often did while, at the same time, grumbling to herself deep in her throat, making a sound that wasn’t words though it had a strange word-like rhythm to it.

“Hey Karux,” Theris called from across the commons. “You’ve got to hear this!”

As Theris came running up Karux stopped and looked back, suddenly remembering the pile of small rocks Eiraena played with. They formed a circular wall around a central cone-shaped pile.

No, he thought. It couldn’t be.

As if reading his mind, she turned and looked directly into his eyes scowling, and the world went white.

6: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Karux woke, gazing up once more at the inside of his father’s roof. This is getting old, he thought. The fit could fall upon him at any moment. Later he would awaken to the view of his father’s ceiling wondering how many hours or days he had lost.

His father came in and hung a bag on a peg by the door and left his staff next to it. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

Karux had been asked that a lot lately. “Well enough.” His usual reply.

“You really made an impression on the elders today.”

Well at least it’s the same day, Karux thought.

“You’ve got a few of them worried that there might be something to what you say. Thoma and Rennon, however, feel that the only real threat is your visions. One or two others feel the same way.”

“Is there any chance they will talk to any of the other tribes’ elders and tell them about my visions?”

“No. I didn’t really think they would. I’m afraid that the only real outcome of all this is that Ghett will probably forbid any further trips to the sacred mountain.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

Arrain tousled his hair. “I know you are now at the age where you can tell the difference between the real and the ideal and how often the one fails to live up to the other, but try not to become cynical. Life is as full of good surprises as well as bad–perhaps even more good than we know.”

“Very well, Adra. I’ll try.”

Arrain rose smiling. “Well I’ve fed the goats and I have a few other chores before the afternoon milking. Your aunt Sairu said she would send over some food.”

“Please thank her for me.”

“I shall, and Naipho says that if you feel up to it you should try walking about some this afternoon.” Arrain rose, picked up a stack of buckets and headed for the door. “Come take your supper outside tonight.”

“I shall.”

Karux lay dozing on his pallet, largely untroubled by visions except for the occasional glimpse of Eiraena drawing lines in the dirt. She would sweep the lines away and draw new ones and every time she did, a small pile of pebbles would rise up and dance about in complicated patterns while she laughed.

He awoke to the sound of the door opening. Charissa entered carrying a basket and a drinking gourd. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Very well, right now.” He sat up smiling.

“Your aunt asked me to come by.” She handed him the gourd and set the basket down and opened it.

Karux sipped the still-warm chaia, its spicy aroma tickling his nose, and watched Charissa bring out the bread, cheese, roasted goat meat and some barely ripe berries. “Is she the only reason you came by?” Karux asked with a playful pout.

Charissa looked up, reddening with a self-conscious smile. “Well, maybe I wanted to anyway.” She popped a berry into his mouth. It was a tantalizing mixture of sweetness and tartness. It was tart enough that he first thought he wouldn’t want any more, but the sweetness brought him back. He opened his mouth and she put another one in with a chuckle. He ate it and opened his mouth again, snapping on her fingers as she offered another. She yanked her hand back with a squeal and fell against him laughing. Resting her head on his shoulder, her laughter fading, she asked in a soft voice, “Do you really believe those visions you talk about?”

This was not how he’d hoped the conversation would go. He had long dreamed of the chance to be alone with her, to tell her how he felt and now here she sat, the perfume of her scent filling his head. He wanted to forget the horrors haunting his nights. He wanted her to think about him and the two of them together. “Yes.” he said, feeling the joy leak from his heart. “I know they’re real.”

She looked up at him through falling strands of auburn hair. “I don’t suppose you could just… stop having them?”

Karux almost laughed, before realizing she was serious. He swallowed a flash of annoyance. Did she think that the visions were just some sort of bad habit he could stop if he wanted to? But, then, how could she understand what it was like? He couldn’t even get the elders to understand and one would hope they had more wisdom.

He took a deep breath which turned into a sigh. He smiled at her, brushed back her hair hooking it behind one perfect ear. He traced the gentle curve of her cheekbone with his thumb as he cupped the back of head. He watched her eyes dilate as he stared into their depths. “When the terror of those visions first fell on me, I would have given anything to be rid of them. Now they are too precious to me.”

Her perfect eyebrows rose upwards and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Precious? Why?”

Karux stared at her lips as she spoke. They were so close he could almost taste them. He couldn’t help but lean in as he replied. “Because if we do nothing, those visions will come true. But if I continue to receive these warnings, then maybe I can find a way to save us.” He leaned in even closer. “And I want to save you more than anything.”

“Oh,” she breathed.

He pulled her towards him and kissed her.

She responded with cautious passion, her lips warm and soft. He had never kissed anyone before. The experience was both strange and wonderful, but he could imagine himself doing it a lot. He wanted to kiss her forever and never stop.

-=====|==

After Charissa left, Karux slept. When he awoke, he waited until late in the afternoon hoping Charissa would come back with another meal and some more alone time. When she failed to appear, he put on his sandals, forced his staff into his perpetually clenched hand and went outside.

Those who chose to eat outside on the tables were already well into the evening meal. Most of the youth had already finished eating and were entertaining themselves as the adults sat and talked.

Somek and Pronos were, as usual, competing to be the center of attention.

“Hey! Look at me. Guess who I am,” Somek called out. He screamed, fell to the ground and started flopping about like a fish pulled out of water.

Pronos and the others laughed. “What is that?” he asked leaning over Somek’s writhing form. “You have a vision of the future? I hope it’s a good one.”

“Oh it’s terrible! It’s terrible” Somek groaned in mock agony while his thrashed about on the ground.

Pronos leaned over closer. “What is it?”

“It’s… it’s… your breath! It stinks like Garick’s loin cloth! What have you been doing with your mouth?”

Pronos kicked Somek “How do you know what Garick’s loin cloth smells like, oh mighty oracle?”

“Oh!” Somek laughed despite the pain and rolled away. Pronos hopped after him on one foot, kicking him with the other.

The other younger children thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen. A number of them took up the game shouting “I see a vision!” and falling on the ground and writhing around while the rest screamed with laughter.

Karux watched with mounting fury, struggling to find the right words with which to blast them. He happened to spot Charissa sitting at the end of one a table with her girlfriends and she made eye-contact with him. She blushed and looked away and suddenly Karux understood why she had asked if he could stop having the visions.

They embarrassed her.

The realization stunned him. He briefly forgot the mocking children. He had thought she loved him, but how could she love him if she didn’t respect him? He gripped the staff feeling hurt and betrayed, ready to lash out at first opportunity when much to his surprise, he heard Amantis shout out.

“Stop!”

The children paused, staring dumbfounded as Amantis charged over. He appeared to be genuinely angry and Karux couldn’t guess why.

“Are you goat turds so stupid you’d laugh at your own destruction? I swear your goats are smarter than you are. They at least have enough sense to run away when danger nears!” Amantis glared at each of them and flung a hand toward Karux. “The Lord of the Mountain has even sent you a herdsman to watch over you, but you are too stupid to follow him to safety.”

Somek rose to his feet frowning.

“You’re not saying he—” Pronos stood pointing at Karux.

“He’s not the only one with a stone that tells him things, is he?” Amantis glared at them, hands on hips.

“Then you also had a vision?” Garick blurted out.

“I did. What’s more my stone told me that the first attack will come this winter. It will be a long freeze and the drwg, the great dire wolves, will come over the northern mountains looking for food.”

Pronos and the others traded questioning looks. “What should we do then?” he finally asked.

Amantis smiled slowly, as if he’d been expecting this. “We must all take up spears and train ourselves to use them. We must become the fiercest and strongest hunters that have ever been seen in the Pelahi Mountains!”

A gleam sparked in the boys’ eyes.

Garick stood first. “Yes.”

Pronos and Somek joined him, “Yeah!”

The other boys cheered and some of the girls as well.

“Meet me in the pastures on the other side of the stream tomorrow and bring a spear.” Amantis chose that moment to make his exit, giving Karux a conspiratorial nod as he passed.

The older boys were already talking about how many wolves they would kill and some of the small game hunts they had been on in the past. Karux had largely been forgotten. Even the young children, who had mocked him mere moments before, took up sticks and brandished them as they hopped around and struck dramatic poses.

Karux caught Theris’ eye who shrugged with an “Eh, who knows?” expression. Macander frowned thoughtfully next to him. He looked back at the tables and saw Sjaiwa hovering near Garick while Nyrana orbited nearby. Charissa had already left.

-=====|==

Karux felt a little foolish leaving the house with his spear as if he were going on some sort of hunting trip, but when he got to the pastures on the far side of the stream, he saw the other boys already there awaiting Amantis’ appearance. Most had grown bored and were experimenting to see what tricks they could do with their spears. Young Jaemin balanced his on one end while Tareuk spun his. Torval threw his into the air, seeing how high he could toss it and still catch it when it came down. The spinning things fell, bounced and struck several bystanders. Fortunately, they only suffered a few scratches.

Wondering why everyone seemed to be waiting for Amantis, Karux was about to suggest they try to use their spears as weapons when Amantis appeared carrying a length of rope and a pile of sacking.

Several of the younger boys ran over to meet him and Amantis handed the rope to Torval and allowed Jaemin and Tareuk to struggle with the sacking as they carried it between them.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Somek demanded as everyone gathered around.

Amantis gestured to his assistants and crouched under a tall tree. “Practice with the spears.” He tied one end of the rope to the sack.

“What’s that for?” Garick pointed at the sacking with his spear.

Amantis tossed the rope at him. “Here, throw this over that tree limb.”

Garick got it on the second toss.

“Good, now lift it up,” Amantis said.

Garick took up the slack and hoisted the bundle off the ground.

“Whoa! Not so high. Leave it about knee high and tie it off.”

“Why am I doing this?” Garick asked as he complied.

“This,” Amantis slapped the sacking, “is a wolf.”

Some of the younger boys laughed and capered about recklessly brandishing their crude spears.

“We’re going to pretend this wolf is about to spring at you and your job is to catch it on your spear. Pronos, you’re first.”

“Pronos stepped forward and Amantis pulled the bag back to chest height. “Turn your spear around and use the blunt end,” Amantis said, “I don’t want this thing to come apart after only a couple of tries.”

Amantis paused as Pronos positioned himself, then flung the bag at him with sudden force. Startled, Pronos managed to get the end of the spear up between himself and the rising bag. The bag struck and bounced away, spinning. The younger boys ran after it, laughing. When they caught it, Amantis gestured for them to bring it back to where he stood.

“You two give it a toss,” Amantis suggested to Jaemin and Tareuk.

The young ones loved flinging the bag at the older boys and the older boys quickly caught on to the best ways to brace themselves for the impact and to even charge forward, throwing their weight behind the spear so that they struck with more force.

Why was everyone following him? Karux wondered as he sat beneath a nearby tree watching. He pulled at his clenched fist, massaging and stretching it, trying to get it to function. Did people always follow whoever acted like they knew what they were doing or was Amantis a natural leader? He never thought of Amantis as any kind of leader, yet here he was directing everyone as they trained to fight for their korion, and he seemed to be doing a decent job.

After each of the older boys got several tries at the bag, the younger boys discovered they could sometimes surprise them by flinging the wolf out on strange arcs that saw the bag come flying in from one side or the other.

“Hey!” Bazma complained. “That’s not fair.”

Amantis regarded him unsympathetically, arms folded. “Have you never seen how a wolf pack hunts?” He scowled. “They don’t just jump up in front of you. While you’re looking at the one in front, another wolf is sneaking around behind to attack from the rear or the side.”

The youngsters seem to take this as permission to go wild and soon the wolves were flying in at head height so that it was easier to duck than to try to spear it.

They had to pause several times for hasty repairs to the torn sacking. The younger boys, no doubt sensing a growing disinterest in the rest and fearing an end to the game, began to demand their try at the wolf. The older boys had already begun to sit out their turns, so the younger ones grabbed their spears and lined up while Pronos and Somek volunteered to handle the wolf.

They flung the sacking at the first boy, Jaemin, with such force the impact lifted him off his feet, his spear smashing against the side of his head as he was flung aside. Pronos and Somek laughed, as the boy lay on the ground and burst into tears.

Macander and some of the others rushed over to see if the injury was serious, and though Jaemin threatened to go tell his father, once he was able to speak, he remained to watch the others have their try. After several minutes of this, their efforts degenerating to little more than a group of children standing around the dangling bag whacking it with their sticks.

When the older boys grew bored watching them, Amantis took the bag and tore it open. “I think it is time to practice some pack tactics.” Producing a ragged goat pelt, Amantis hastily punched a couple of holes, ran a cord through, and tied the cord into a loop. “You’re now a wolf,” he declared, throwing the pelt over young Torval’s head so it hung down like a cape. He prepared and distributed two more then called Somek over.

“You are an innocent herdsman caring for your goats when a pack of wolves begins to stalk you.” Tareuk, Verdis and Torval, covered in fur, began walking around on their hands and feet growling and snarling. “Remember, they have long claws and sharp teeth. If they touch you with either, you’re dead. Your job is just to keep them at bay. And your job,” Amantis pointed at his already circling wolves, “is to spread out and attack him whenever he’s not looking at you.”

Karux felt Amantis was exaggerating the killer claws part, but said nothing as he watched.

The three wolves circled. Somek crouched in the center, ready to spring in any direction. Several times one or the other wolf would start to leap, but Somek warned them off with a look. Finally, one aggressive wolf pawed the air threateningly, distracting him while two others slipped behind. Somek must have either heard them or seen them out of the corner of his eye. Stopping one with a glance, he whirled at Tareuk as he leaped. His training with the bag must have kicked in at that point for he thrust his spear out, catching Tareuk in mid-leap, striking him in the chest with the butt end and sent him crashing to the ground. Tareuk landed with a loud “whoof” and lay unmoving. The other boys rushed over. It seemed a full minute before Tareuk sucked in a great gasp of air and began a low painful moan.

“That’s it! I am telling my adra!” Jaemin shouted and ran back toward the village. Even some of the older boys helped check Tareuk for broken bones and made sure he could stand. He limped away, whimpering, an arm slung over another boy’s shoulders while the other young ones followed behind, propping him up.

Amantis watched thoughtfully. “I guess we need larger wolves,” he said at last.

Garick frowned as Tareuk left. “Are you sure you want to continue?”

“Of course! We were doing so well. I think we’re making real progress here.”

The others exchanged uncomfortable glances but stood at the ready for Amantis’ next command.

“Let’s try multiple defenders. Theris, Macander…Karux do you feel well enough to handle a spear?”

“I better not right now,” Karux replied.

“Very well, you can watch and tell us if you see something that can be improved.”

“Sure.”

“The rest of you, get to be wolves. Same rules as before, just try not to actually kill anyone.”

Macander and Theris held their spears at the ready while the others began to circle. Macander looked a little wide eyed with barely suppressed panic. The two brothers seemed to naturally move back to back to protect each other and Karux saw Amantis nodding as he watched. Pronos and Somek stalked Theris and Macander wearing wolfish grins. They looked ready to leap up and tear the defenders throats out with their teeth.

Karux had begun to wonder if the wolves had given up when everything happened at once. Garick and Pronos leaped at Theris simultaneously. Theris was able to hold Garick off, but Pronos bore him to the ground, sat on his chest and clawed at his face while making a bestial roar. Somek rushed Macander, getting past his guard. Macander held up his spear crosswise and stopped the charge. Somek had to put up his hands to keep it from crushing his throat. Macander took a step back and spun the butt end of the spear up to smash Somek in the left temple, then in less than the blink of an eye he smashed Somek in the right temple with the other end. Stunned, Somek dropped to the ground and Macander crouched over him, holding the flint spear tip to his throat.

Everyone froze.

Karux wanted to shout “stop”, but couldn’t breathe.

With the spear tip dimpling the skin of Somek’s throat, Macander’s blank face stared down with cold eyes.

Blood flowed from a cut in Somek’s temple. Tears welled up in his eyes as he lay panting, gaping at Macander’s mask-like face.

Finally Macander blinked and dropped his spear.

Somek scrambled backwards, a look of horror on his face. “What did you think you were doing?” he shouted, once he’d found his voice. “Were you trying to kill me? You could have caved in my head!”

“I… I…” Macander looked alarmed.

“That was brilliant!” Amantis shouted running up to Macander. “That’s how to use a spear as a weapon! I can see we are going to have to practice this some more, and practice techniques against people as well as animals.”

Macander walked away, looking sick.

People? A cold chill ran down Karux’s back. Macander had looked like a sleepwalker, or something inhuman. He looked like something that could take the life of a person. He looked like one of the beasts from his visions.

7: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

That evening at supper, Karux passed by Jaemin and Tareuk talking animatedly with their parents, showing every bruise they could find on their bodies. Karux sat at the table farthest from them and noticed Theris, Garick and the older boys all seemed subdued. Garick stole frequent glances at the younger boys and practically ignored Sjaiwa chattering next to him.

Charissa sat next to Karux, talking across the table with Nyrana, distracting him from worries of impending trouble and Macander’s strange transformation during their training session. Macander just stared at his trencher, picking at his food. Halfway through the meal Charissa casually reached under the table and took Karux’s good hand. Startled, he turned to her and she smiled back. He didn’t mind that this prevented him from eating. She must like me after all, he thought, his spirit lifting. He even found himself appreciating some silly thing Nyrana said and they all shared a good laugh.

Then his father caught his eye as he spoke to Jaemin’s parents and Karux’s heart leaped into his throat. He could tell by his father’s hard expression that he was furious. In fact Karux couldn’t remember when he had last seen him so mad.

The sun had set by the time the gathering began to break up, though the fading summer light would linger in the sky for hours. Karux wanted to stay and enjoy these last few peaceful moments with Charissa, but he knew his father might come by at any time to confront him and he didn’t want that to happen in front of his friends. With a reluctance bordering on despair, he made his excuses and rose to leave. Charissa looked disappointed and he couldn’t help but wonder if she weren’t hoping he would stay behind so they could have some time alone together. It only made it harder for him to walk back to the house to face his father’s wrath.

Inside, he stirred up the embers in the fire pit to find a live coal. He lit a small clay lamp and topped it off from a jug of keleos oil. He didn’t have long to wait before his father came in.

Arrain busied himself putting things away, ignoring Karux who sat staring at the lamp. It was a minute or so until he finally turned on Karux. “I heard from Jaemin’s father that you and your friends were beating up on the younger boys today.” Suppressed anger turned his voice harsh. “It seems young Tareuk may even have some cracked ribs.”

Oh great, Karux thought, all I need is for him to be frightened by a bunch of lies and half-truths. “We weren’t beating anyone up. We were playing a game.”

“A game? What kind of a game results in broken ribs?”

“Hunters and wolves.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“We were taking turns playing wolves who were stalking hunters.”

“Jaemin’s father said you swung some sort of weight on a rope at Jaemin and knocked him down.”

“We had a pretend wolf swinging on a rope and took turns poking it with spears. Jaemin and his friends insisted on having a turn and, well, he just got too close.” Well it was mostly true, and his father didn’t seem to be in the mood for a fuller explanation.

His father scowled as if trying to decide what to do with him. “I’m very disappointed that you didn’t exercise better judgment in this,” he finally said.

“I didn’t actually participate in all this. I just watched.”

“Even so, you should have looked after the younger boys or gotten an adult if you needed help.”

Karux shrugged. He tried very hard not to roll his eyes.

“So who started this?”

“Started what?”

“This game! Who came up with the idea of playing hunters and wolves?”

Karux hesitated. “Amantis.”

“Amantis? Since when did you and your friends do anything he told you to do?”

Karux blushed and looked away. “He was just trying to help.” It killed him to defend Amantis. Who would have ever guessed this could have happened?

“Help? How is beating up little children trying to help?”

“We weren’t beating anyone up! Can you not understand that? We were trying to learn how to fight wolves.”

“Fight wolves? As in real wolves? Why would you want to do that?”

“Because if we don’t people will die.”

His father seemed taken aback by this, but after a moment’s thought, Karux could see understanding dawn in his eyes. “Is this about your visions? Because we still don’t know that those are—”

“It’s not just me. Amantis has seen it too.”

“He’s having visions as well is he?” Arrain said in a derisive tone.

“Well, not exactly, he found a stone in a cave of the sacred mountain that tells him things.”

“And you believed him? You know how much of an attention seeker he is.”

“I wouldn’t have believed him except that his stone told him where Bazma’s lost goat was.”

Arrain gave him a skeptical look. “And you’re sure he didn’t steal the goat himself?”

“You sound like Theris,” Karux sighed. “The goat looked like it had been torn up by some animal. I don’t think even he would do something like that just to show off.”

His father sat on a short stool and scooted it up next to him. He leaned over and looked Karux earnestly in the eyes. “I know these dreams or visions or whatever they are must be confusing, but the High Lord gave us minds and he expects us to use them. It is our ability to reason that separates us–even protects us from the beasts. If we give that up we’d be no better than the beasts themselves and perhaps even more dangerous.

“What happened today happened because nobody was using their head. I want you to promise me, when you get an idea, that you’ll ask yourself if this is a reasonable thing to do. Is it something you think I might do? Can you do that?”

Karux couldn’t speak. He felt like he was being asked to make an open-ended promise without knowing all the implications, yet he couldn’t say no. All he could do was nod his head.

“Do you still have that stone with you?” He looked at Karux’s clenched hand.

Karux nodded again.

“Do you always carry it with you?”

Karux nodded.

“Perhaps that stone is part of the problem. By always carrying it with you, you remind yourself of those scary dreams, so you can never escape those thoughts.”

A cold chill ran down Karux’s spine. Surely he couldn’t mean—

“I think you need to give me the stone.”

“No!” The word leaped out of his mouth before he’d even thought about it. His father looked as if he’d been slapped. Karux swallowed and begin rapidly back-tracking. “I mean. I don’t want to lose it. It came from the sacred mountain. I’m sure it must be very valuable.”

His father eyed him cautiously. “I won’t lose it if that’s what you’re afraid of.” He held out his hand, waiting until Karux dug the stone from his clenched fist. Karux handed it over and a flash of light from the stone struck him.

He had a brief vision of snow-covered mountains and fields and an angoran. It charged through the snow wielding something like a knife as long as a man’s arm. The monstrous creature, bigger than a man, with thick gray-green skin the texture of gravel, struck Garick down shooting a spray of blood across the snow.

Karux reared back and shook his head to clear the vision.

“What? Are you well?” Arrain asked.

“It was nothing.”

Arrain took the stone and set it on a shelf. “I think it’ll be best if you leave this alone.”

“Yes, Adra.”

“And I don’t want to see you or your friends playing with spears for a while.”

-=====|==

Word of the previous day’s incident spread throughout the parents of the village, all of whom dutifully warned their children about playing responsibly, the end result being that the next day twice as many youth showed up at the pasture for practice than the day before. Even some girls, including Nyrana, Sjaiwa and Charissa who normally had no interest in hunting, appeared.

Amantis dragged a bunch of poles with him to their practice tree. He had lashed goat skins at both ends of the poles and wrapped them tightly with cords.

“What are we going to do with those?” Some of the new boys asked as they gathered around.

“Everyone, listen up!” Amantis called out. “Gather round. We are not playing games here. We are training to fight for the lives of our korion and our animals.”

A few boys snickered, but most just stared at him curiously.

“Karux and I have both seen visions of the future,” he gave Karux a nod, “visions that require us to train to fight.” This brought a number of apprehensive looks since everyone had seen or heard of Karux’s fits and they had been avoiding him as if he might suddenly attack them. “We think the first threat will be at least one, perhaps several large packs of drwg that will come over the mountains this winter. We can’t be certain, so we have to try and be ready to fight nearly anything at any time. And since none of the adras will help us, we are all that stands between our korion and destruction.” This last thought seemed to surprise quite a few boys who stood up straighter with determined expressions on their faces. “So if you’re just here to play games, you need to leave now.”

No one left, but Karux wondered how serious they took all this.

“If you’re willing to work and sweat and do what we tell you, I want you each to take a pole and divide into two groups.” The boys rushed the pile and they quickly ran out of poles, so Amantis sent the rest off to gather supplies to make more.

Macander’s display yesterday must have really impressed Amantis, for to Karux’s surprise, he didn’t have them practice defending against wolves, instead he had them line up in pairs facing each other where they practiced defending against a spear wielding opponent. They were allowed to strike with the sides of the spear, but only a thrust with either end of the pole counted as a “kill”.

Karux even pried a spear into his clenched hand and practiced until he had caught up to the rest in skill. Amantis mostly had him over-seeing the newcomers while Amantis worked with the group from yesterday. Karux and his students would sometimes pause in their practice to watch Amantis’ group put the final touches on some new disarming technique. They even saw Macander pull off an amazing tripping trick where he used the pole to gain leverage over a much bigger opponent and topple him.

Macander continued to amaze everyone. Amantis often used him as the designated defender while he threw other students against him. Macander did so well, that he increased the number until nearly everyone in his group stood in a circle around him. Macander whirled in a spinning storm of wood, blocking all attacks, lashing out to take down first one opponent, then another.

The attackers began to ignore their pretend wounds, staying in the fight to jab at Macander, increasing the pace of their attacks. All talk ceased. Only the clash of wood, the shuffling of feet and the grunt of exertion could be heard.

Sensing a dangerous level of intensity, Karux nearly stepped in to stop it. His fault or not, he knew his father would kill him if he were to let Macander get hurt. But just as he was about to speak, the attackers began to drop out, gasping, too tired to continue. They were only able to touch Macander at the last by staying back and flinging their poles at him all at once. Even then, he nearly blocked them all with one wobbly spin, before dropping to one knee, gasping and clutching at his pole to keep himself up.

“Excellent!” Amantis looked delighted. “Wonderfully done. A little more practice and soon no one will be able to stand against you.”

“No one?” Karux asked. “What do you mean?”

Amantis just waved the question aside. “Before we take a break, I want to work on some pack techniques.”

“Pack techniques?” Theris asked. “Are we doing wolves again?”

Karux had heard Uncle Naipho had given him an earful as well. He had thought Macander was one of the young boys being picked on and he had laid down a “no more hunters and wolves” law on Theris.

“No,” Amantis said with a wolfish grin. “This time we will all be the pack and we will all carry spears.”

Amantis divided them into two new groups, each containing both old and new students. He led Karux’s group into the woods where he had them hide behind trees and bushes. He told them they were wolves waiting for prey, but wolves with spears. They were to hide until the others came near and try to pounce on them, killing them while they were too surprised to act.

Karux puzzled over this while he hid and waited. He’d hunted with the men before, but that mostly consisted of beating the bushes to scare game into lines of men with waiting spears. This hunting of men confused and disturbed him. Amantis seemed very intent that the surprise go off well and kept inspecting them to make sure no part of them was visible. The whole thing just felt wrong, though he ultimately decided the purpose of the exercise was to help the defenders prepare for surprise attacks. At least he hoped that was the case.

The defenders were ordered to shoulder their spears and not take them off until danger appeared. When they finally got to the part of the animal trail where the stalkers were hiding, the wolves leaped out with a shout and managed to kill most of them before they could react, though Bazma alone of the attackers had been judged to have received a fatal thrust. Only a few at the end of the line of defenders remained able to fight, but Amantis called it off when most of the defenders dropped. He explained afterwards that some of younger stalkers had leaped too soon, giving those at the end of the defenders’ line a chance to prepare for the fight. If they had waited a little, until the end of the line was in front of them, the wolves could have caught them all by surprise and saved poor Bazma’s life.

The boys loved the new game and played it repeatedly until dark. Even then, they chased each other through the woods in the early twilight killing each other over and over again.

8: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Spring had passed and the season of verd, the greening, was well on its way. The young goats were nearly old enough to begin the long slow migration to the alpine pastures for the summer, but first the tribe would visit the market towns along the river to trade some of their cheeses, wooly goat pelts, baskets, textiles and culls that hadn’t already been roasted and eaten for tools, clothes and food they couldn’t grow themselves.

Most of the older boys had already started herds of their own and many had goods to take and trade. Unwilling to wait for their slower parents, they packed up a few donkeys early and began herding their goats to the river markets. They had traveled those paths for years, so they weren’t paying a lot of attention when a large group of farm boys suddenly stepped out across the path blocking them.

“Where do you think you’re taking those animals?” The leader was nearly a foot taller than Somek, the tallest of the boys present. He had a square head with small close-set eyes peering from under a heavy brow. His high hairline made his forehead look like a wall of skin. He gestured at the surrounding farmland on either side of the path. “You do know this is our land, don’t you?”

Pronos shrugged. “We’re just going to N’shia-Potoma like we’ve always done.”

“Well that could be a problem. You see, we feel like you’ve been taking advantage of us, using our land without paying us.”

“Paying you?”

The guy to his left with a wide toad-like face replied with dripping sarcasm, “Payment. It’s what you give someone when they generously let you use their stuff. But then I don’t suppose you hillbillies know about that sort of thing.”

The other boys lined up next to Somek, their herdsman staves held low and at the ready. “Sorry,” Garick smirked. “A contract can only be changed if both parties are agreed, and we don’t agree.” Bazma frowned at his brother, expressing at a glance what Karux suspected they all felt. How did he know this kind of trade talk?

During this exchange, a tall skinny farm boy had slipped over near one of their goats as the herd piled up around them. He reached for the goat and Theris brought his staff down on the farmer’s wrist. The skinny fellow recoiled, rubbing his wrist, then launched himself at Theris with an outraged roar. Theris reacted instantly with rapid blows to the left and right side of his head. The farm boy collapsed and Theris followed up with a thrust to his stomach. Had a spearhead been attached to his staff, the skinny boy would have been pinned to the ground. As it was, he’d had the wind knocked out of him and lay gasping.

The other farmers roared and charged forward.

Garick tripped the forehead and placed his staff on the farmer’s neck, leaning on it to let him know that it would be better if he didn’t move.

Somek and Pronos flanked him in defensive positions. When the farmers came the pair laughed as they crushed noses, knocked out teeth, broke bones and flung flecks of blood in all directions.

The farmers fell back gaping. Even Karux was stunned at their ferocity.

Amantis looked around at the fallen and smirked. “Hey, you left your crap littering our path. Come back here and pick it up!”

The Forehead rolled away and scrambled to his feet, looking around frantically as if counting his losses. The farmers still outnumbered the herdsmen, but the herdsmen seemed more than ready for them. “We’ll get them, but you have to back up first.”

“Very well,” Amantis said magnanimously.

The goats had scattered a bit and the herdsmen began rounding them up further back on the path. The farmers helped their friends back up on their feet, dragging a few off across the fields.

“Hey, stop!” Macander yelped.

Everyone turned and Karux saw one of the farmers making off with a small bleating kid under his arm. Amantis flung a staff at him, but the farmer was already gone. The other farmers laughed derisively as they limped away across the fields.

“Man we really showed them,” Somek shouted, blood lust still shining in his eyes.

Amantis ignored him, stomped up to Macander and slammed him in the chest. Macander staggered backwards, lost his balance and sat down hard.

Theris swung his staff at Amantis, bringing it to a rapid stop just under his chin. “Don’t hit my brother,” he growled.

Amantis glared at him and slowly pushed the staff away. He turned to Macander and towered over him. “Why did you let him go?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“You, of all of us, were best able to stop him, yet you let him go.”

Macander hung his head.

“You don’t stop until the enemy is defeated,” Amantis shouted to the group. He turned and stomped away muttering, “Void take it!”

The enemy? Karux wondered. Do we now have enemies?

-=====|==

They got their animals sorted out and headed on to N’shia-Potoma. Just before they arrived, Amantis stopped and gathered everyone around. “I need you each to give me two goats.”

“What? Why?” they all demanded.

“I’m going to buy you each something. It would normally cost you more than two goats, but by buying so many, I think I can talk him into it.”

“Why? What are you going to get?” Pronos asked.

“I want it to be a surprise.”

“I don’t know…” Garick shook his head

“I promise you, you won’t regret it. In fact you’re going to like it a lot.”

The boys all looked at each other, measuring the others’ skepticism.

“Trust me. Please.”

“Very well,” Somek said.

“Why not?” Pronos shrugged.

One by one the other boys agreed. Finally it came to Karux who hesitated because two goats was no small matter. He knew his father would notice and would demand an accounting.

“Come on Karux, you have to believe me.”

“Yeah!” Pronos added.

“You’ve got to!” Somek insisted.

Reluctantly, he agreed.

About half an hour later, as the boys crested a low rise in the farmland, the river and the market town it supported appeared before them. A monstrous collection of houses seemed to stretch endlessly along the Pardos’ banks. The smell of fish and marshy river-bottom land, of raw sewage and hundreds of unwashed bodies living packed together, greeted them as they neared the north gate. Also called the sheep’s gate, it lay near the stockyards where they drove their animals into special stalls just inside the town. A man counted the animals as they entered and slid a handful of differently shaped clay beads onto a string representing the total number of animals penned. In his father’s day, Karux knew, the counter just tied knots on a string in a certain pattern. His father had even shown Karux once how to read the pattern, but Karux had mostly forgotten it.

After the animals were counted and the beads strung, the counter pressed the string into a palms-sized square of wet clay and asked him to make his mark. Karux knew wealthy merchants had special signet rings to press into the clay and was relieved when the counter handed him a cut piece of reed. Karux hesitated with his hand over the clay. His father had always placed his mark for their animals. Should he use the same mark or make up his own? The counter waited impatiently. Karux’s tribe wasn’t the only one to bring their animals down from the hills today. He pressed the reed into the clay, carving a triangle to represent the sacred mountain and then drew a line bisecting it at the base representing the stone he had got there. He started to explain it to the counter, worried his mark might seem too presumptuous, but the counter didn’t care to listen. He just handed Karux a corresponding string of beads and sent him on his way.

Everything about the town amazed Karux. The houses were made of fired clay bricks, rising up two and three stories and plastered over in ocher, tans and yellows. Everyone dressed in linens which put the herdsmen’s rough spun cotton and wool garments to shame. Even the butchers in the meat market wore finer clothes beneath their blood covered leather aprons than the wealthiest herdsman in his village.

Amantis disappeared into the crowd almost immediately and Pronos and Somek wandered off soon afterwards. It was difficult enough to stay together, as they dodged and bumped through the thick crowds. Though the locals tried to avoid any physical contact while ignoring them at the same time, it was impossible for all three to walk together.

“So what are you going to do first?” Bazma craned his neck around staring in all directions at once. It was his first time in the market, but they had all filled the days before with stories of what he could find there.

Theris laughed. “I’m going to get me a big tub of beer!”

“Yes,” Garick agreed, “and then I’m going to find some lads and teach them a thing or two about playing ‘four sticks’.”

They all laughed at the thought of the city kids losing their valuables to the crafty herdsmen kids.

“I wonder if the harpist is still in front of that tavern.” Macander said.

“What?” Theris gave him a playful shove, “That was a year ago. I imagine he’s moved around a bit since then.”

“Well, I really liked his playing, and I have a hard time remembering the tune.”

“I keep telling you, you’ve got it wrong.”

“That’s why I want to hear it again.”

“What about you, Karux?” Theris asked. “What are you going to do?”

Karux had already dropped behind to watch a copper smith working at a charcoal fire shaping an ornate copper bracelet on a small anvil with a tiny hammer.

Theris, Garick and Macander, paused to watch him watching the smith. “I think Karux has someone else to shop for,” Theris laughed and nudged Garick. “We’ll meet up with you later,” he called out.

“Let’s meet at Khovan’s just before sundown for some roasted fish,” Macander suggested.

“Yeah! That fish is good,” Theris and Garick agreed.

Karux loved exploring the town, and discovering its wondrous secrets. After seeing himself the way he must appear to the locals, as a simple and crude herdsman, he began to wonder how he must appear in Charissa’s eyes. He looked at some of the fancy tunics, with their patterns of colored stitching on the hems and laughed at the mental image of himself wearing it. He was sorely tempted by a simpler tunic that a shop keeper refused to let him touch for fear he would soil it, then grew distracted by a nice pair of winter boots and some dyed woolen cloaks. He ended up walking away from all that and, on a whim, purchased the copper bracelet.

He felt strangely grown up negotiating a price for the copper bracelet, promising part of one of his goats in payment. Karux couldn’t figure out how one could sell just part of a goat, but when the man thrust a small slab of damp clay out on a wooden board in which he had pressed some strange symbols, he guessed they had a way of keeping track of such things. He made his mark on the clay and was told that, since he was from out of town, the merchant would have to verify his worth before he could give him the bracelet and to come back tomorrow morning.

Karux left, giving up on the bracelet and wondering if he had been tricked. He reassured himself that he hadn’t actually given the merchant anything but a mark on a piece of clay, though he hoped it wouldn’t come back to haunt him.

He met up with his father and the other adults from the village that afternoon and they all ate roasted fish from Khovan’s. They camped together on the commons near the north gate and their fathers finished their trading the next morning. Karux went by the copper smith’s shop feeling foolish. He was certain the man would have some sort of excuse for not giving it to him. He might even just laugh at him and tell him to go away since he was just a stupid goat turd.

To his surprise, the man recognized him and produced the bracelet as soon as he walked up.

“Here you go,” he said handing it over.

It really was a beautiful piece of work. The polished copper gleamed in the morning sun. “Thanks. Er, do I owe you anything?”

“Nope, everything’s been taken care of. I hope your girl enjoys it.”

“What? How did you know?”

The man gave him a wink. “Just a lucky guess.”

The boys all met at the northern gate as they prepared for the return trip. Somek and Pronos both wore the fancy tunics the people of the plains wore.

“What do you think Amantis got?” Somek asked.

“Who knows?” Karux shrugged.

“I just hope he didn’t squander it all on himself.” Theris said.

“I hear that some of the local women will even trade their affections for a copper bracelet or a pair of earrings,” Garick suggested.

“I wouldn’t know, but I suspect they’d want more for smelly goat turds like you,” Amantis laughed.

Everyone turned to find Amantis walking up behind them.

“Amantis!” Pronos crossed his arms. “What did you get us?”

“What? Can’t you even wait until we’ve left the city?”

“How do we know whether we’d want to sell it back or not?” Garick laughed.

“Very well.” Amantis reached into a new belt pouch and pulled out a handful of triangle shaped bits of clay.

“What?” Theris shouted. “What is this trash?”

“These are kerma, trading tokens,” Amantis explained. “Merchants here often give them to customers who’ve paid for things that they are waiting to be delivered.”

“So what are they good for?” Macander asked.

“I got you each a pair of these.” Amantis reached into his tunic and pulled out a massive bronze spearhead nearly as long as his forearm. Its razor sharp edge seemed to slice the sunlight into gleaming shards.

“Wow!” Somek and the others gasped.

Karux thought it was, in its own way, as beautiful in form as his bracelet, though deadly as a viper.

“The smith will be done before we return for the winter grazing,” Amantis said. “We fix a few of these to some hardened oak staves and anyone who wants to take our goats will have something to be wary of.”

-=====|==

Returning to Korion-Garanth, dozens of small laughing children met them on the trail, dancing around them. “What did you bring us? What did you buy?” they demanded. Most received some small sweet and a simple toy which sent them capering off in joy.

Karux, having remembered Eiraena, had brought her a sweet. He knelt down on one knee next to where she played in the dirt and held it out to her. Except for multiple layers of dirt, she was still naked, her filthy hair matted. Eiraena stopped her stirring of the dust and stared at the sweet.

“I brought you something,” Karux said in a soft voice. “It’s a sweet. It’s very good. Do you want it?”

Eiraena didn’t respond. She didn’t look at him or move to take the sweet. She just stared at it motionlessly.

“Take it.” Karux suggested, waving it under her nose.

Eiraena made no move for it, though her eyes crossed as she tracked it.

Karux rubbed it against her lip, hoping a taste of it would interest her, but when he held it out, she still continued to do nothing but stare at it. Finally, he took her hand and placed the sweet in it. “Taste it,” he suggested.

He sat back on his heels and watched as she slowly raised the sweet to her lips. Karuk smiled, enjoying a small victory as she put it to her upper lip and rubbed it back and forth. She did this a few times, then threw it away.

Great, Karux thought. With a sigh he pulled out his one remaining gift, a small square top with one to four dots painted on its sides in different colors. He set it down in front of her and gave it a spin and rose to walk away.

Eiraena’s eyes widened and she made an excited hooting sound, “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

Well, at least I got something right, he thought as he walked away.

“Ah! Ah!”

Karux turned at the distressed sound. The top had fallen over. She looked at him for the first time that day, albeit with a panicked expression. “What have I done?” he sighed as he walked back and spun the top for her again. She watched it excitedly only to demand he spin it again when it fell over. Fortunately, other children came to watch and soon they were spinning the top for her. Karux rose and walked away; Eiraena gave no sign she noticed.

She has known our names and shapes from birth, but she has no voice to tell them the servant of the Most High had said.

Maybe that vision was wrong, he thought, because he certainly wasn’t going to get anything out of her. If she were the only one who could tell him how to command the servants of the Most High, what hope did they truly have?

9: Chaper Eight

Chaper Eight

That night they enjoyed a small feast as they dined on exotic foods purchased in N’shia-Potoma. The next morning the men and boys would begin the long slow migration into the mountains where they would spend the summer. After supper, Charissa took Karux’s hand and led him off towards the brook. Pulling him off the path, she slipped her arms around him and kissed him firmly. He pressed her tightly to him and savored holding her. Several minutes passed before she paused in her kisses. “I wanted to say goodbye before you left,” she breathed.

“I’m not sure I want to leave now,” he sighed, stroking her hair.

“I am going to miss you.”

“That reminds me, I have something I’ve wanted to give you.” Karux released her long enough to dig inside his tunic. He pulled out the bracelet and slipped it on her wrist.

“Oh my!” Charissa held it up to inspect it. In the soft moonlight, it gleamed like silver. “I can’t take this! It must have cost you a fortune.”

“Well it’s too late now. I certainly can’t use it,” Karux laughed. “Besides,” he took her chin and gently turned her head until he could stare into her eyes. “I really wanted you to have it.”

“Oh Karux,” she choked and flung herself at him, hugging him fiercely.

Karux inhaled the scent of her hair. “Will you remember me?” he asked.

“Yes. I shall think of you every day.”

-=====|==

The next morning as everyone prepared to set out for the high country, Karux slipped back into his house and found the stone from the sacred mountain. He stuffed it into a small leather pouch he wore on a cord around his neck and tucked it inside his tunic. Aside from the bracelet the pouch was his only personal purchase in N’shia-Potoma and he had bought it for this sole purpose.

Charissa met him as the men and boys gathered their herds and drove them to the ford. She would not be going with him into the mountains but she held his hand, her bracelet tapping his wrist, and walked with him for as long as she could. Theris, Garick and other boys caught his eye as they passed by, smirking at Karux and waggling their eyebrows suggestively. Karux couldn’t help but grin like a fool. He had never been this happy in his life.

At the far side of the pastures, where the land began to rise into the foothills, Charissa stopped. She hovered close by, brushing back her hair, acting as if she wanted to kiss him goodbye, but was too shy to do so in public.

“Awe, just go ahead and kiss him already,” Bazma shouted as he walked past.

Charissa blushed and the other boys laughed. Karux chuckled as well, though he also wanted to kick Bazma. By drawing attention to them, he’d pretty much guaranteed Karux wouldn’t get his parting kiss.

“I wanted to give you something to remember me by,” Charissa said, blushing further. “It’s nothing so nice as the bracelet you gave me, but I wanted you to have it.” She cupped her palm over his hand and dropped something that felt like a coiled bit of thread.

Karux looked at it and realized it was a long narrow braid of hair.

“You cut your hair?”

Charissa turned one braid to expose the short hairs sticking out on the underside where she had cut it. “Do you not like it?” she asked gnawing at the corner of her bottom lip.

Karux felt his eyes water involuntarily and had to clear his throat to speak. “It was the best gift you could have given me.”

“Perhaps… someday… I might cut the rest off for you.” Her blush grew so dark her whole face looked bruised.

The implication was not lost on Karux. Women only cut their braids off when they got married. It had something to do with insuring they quickly had lots of healthy children. Karux moved to kiss her, despite the passing audience, but she ducked her head under his chin, hugged him so fiercely he couldn’t breathe, then turned and ran back to the village.

Karux walked along fingering the braid of rich auburn hair. It was several minutes before he noticed the good natured laughter surrounding him. “Oh go tend your goats,” he called out.

When he noticed Amantis frowning thoughtfully at him, he quickly tucked the braid in the pouch and walked along whistling.

-=====|==

Charissa had no difficulty keeping her promise. She thought of Karux every day, dwelling on his handsome face, his gentle kisses and his strong arms until her mother had to remind her repeatedly to attend to her chores. Though they had never said anything to her, besides a gentle reminder of what behavior was appropriate between boys and girls her age, they neither asked about her feelings for Karux nor offered any opinions. She did wonder what they would say if Karux asked permission to court her.

Ever since he had been widowed when Karux was an infant, Arrain was largely considered by the women of the village to be a very eligible bachelor. She had heard her mother talking to Dressela about how some of the single women had been very forward in flirting with him. Even a number of married women had suggested they wouldn’t have minded dumping their husbands for him. Though it was always said in jest, it had always sounded more wistful than humorous to Charissa.

In many ways Karux was a younger version of his father Arrain. They were both held in high esteem by the village—at least until Karux had fallen. Now they only spoke of Karux in quiet pitying tones. And though no one said anything negative, at least in public, much had been implied about the state of his mind, or even the state of his soul.

I’ve known him since childhood, Charissa thought as she pounded the laundry on the rocks at the edge of the brook a fortnight later. I know he’s the same person, just as sweet as he’s always been.

“So has he kissed you yet?” Sjaiwa asked.

“Sjaiwa!” Nyrana chided. “You can’t just bluntly ask someone something like that!”

“Judging by her color,” Sjaiwa nodded toward Charissa’s blushing face, “I’d say the answer was yes.”

“How was it?” Nyrana gasped.

“Was he any good?” Sjaiwa asked.

Charissa took a deep breath. “Oh! He’s wonderful. The best!”

“Really?” Nyrana gaped at her, her own washing forgotten.

“Yes.”

“How can you know that,” Sjaiwa grumbled, “unless you’ve kissed all the other boys.”

“I don’t have to, I just know.”

“Has Garick kissed you yet?” Nyrana asked Sjaiwa.

“Noooo, not quite yet. He keeps getting close, and I’ll think he’s about to, but then he doesn’t.”

“Really? He must be shy,” Nyrana said. “I wouldn’t have thought it of him.”

“It’s frustrating is what it is.”

“Oh and I didn’t tell you the best part!” Charissa pulled up her sleeve and the bright copper bracelet flashed like fire in the sunlight. “He brought this back from market.”

“He didn’t!” Sjaiwa screamed.

“Oh how romantic! I’d kiss him too if he brought me something like that.” Nyrana said.

“Ah, you’d kiss him even without the bracelet if he’d let you,” Sjaiwa slapped her wash angrily on the rocks.

Nyrana turned away blushing, surprising Charissa with her silent confession.

“I wish Garick had brought me something,” Sjaiwa growled through gritted teeth as she wrung out a cloth. It looked like she was trying to tear it in half. “He couldn’t stop talking about the market.”

Nyrana paused and looked out across the pasture lands. “Is that Garick?”

Charissa looked up and saw a distant form racing down the hills, entering the pasture lands’ far side.

Sjaiwa rose and shaded her eyes. “It is.”

Nyrana and Charissa rose, waiting and watching as Garick approached.

“Is something wrong?” Sjaiwa called out when he neared.

“Is someone hurt” Nyrana asked.

Garick crossed the ford, leaping across the dry stones, pausing when he saw Charissa standing among them. “It’s Karux.”

“Karux?” Charissa clutched the cloth she had been washing. “What’s wrong?”

Garick looked grim faced. “It’s the visions.”

“I thought they had started to fade?” Charissa asked hopefully.

“Well they’re back with a vengeance now. Naipho sent me to retrieve some of Mahd Mela’s nerve tonic.” Garick looked like he wanted to say something more but he hurried away instead.

“Oh Charissa!” Nyrana put a consoling hand on her arm as Charissa stared after him.

-=====|==

The following days were a nightmare of anxiety for Charissa. Gossip about Karux ran rampant, yet everyone seemed to avoid her. She took to lurking near her mother and the other women in hopes of catching stray bits of conversation, but what she heard only increased her worries. Karux’s visions had returned and grown immeasurably worse. He screamed every night in horror at the things he saw until the others forced him and Arrain to camp across the meadow from the herd. He spent his days in an exhausted stupor.

She even heard whispered suggestions he was losing his mind.

Charissa spent her days unconsciously rubbing the bracelet up and down her arm as she worried about Karux. She thought more than once, that if these visions truly were from the Lord of the Mountain, she would climb the mountain herself and demand the High Lord either take the visions away or help him make the visions not come true. As it was, they only seemed to slowly destroy Karux’s mind.

Autumn had nearly passed and fall was right around the corner when the men finally returned. The goats were all fat and happy but the men looked tired and grim-faced. Their stay in the village would be brief for as soon as the harvests were finished they would move the herds south to graze the fields of the plain.

Karux’s appearance shocked Charissa. His glazed eyes had sunk beneath dark circles in a face that had gone thin and pale. He shuffled forward, leaning heavily on his staff and dragging his bad leg, not appearing to take any notice of his surroundings. He looked as if his life were being drained from him.

“I’ll go corral the goats,” Arrain said. “You just go sit at the tables and rest.”

Charissa felt the tears well up in her eyes. She had never seen someone suffer like this. She wanted to run to him, but he didn’t seem to notice she was even there, so she followed Arrain instead to ask him what he could tell of Karux’s condition. As she neared the corral, she heard him talking to his brother Naipho.

“I don’t think he should go with us,” Naipho said.

“He can’t sleep in the korion. You know how he’s like.”

“Is the tonic not helping?”

Arrain shrugged. “It’s hard to say. He might not be quite as loud…” Arrain fell silent.

Charissa could see from Arrain’s expression that Karux was not the only one affected.

“Anyway,” Arrain continued, pulling himself together, “If he’s going to have to sleep out in the wilderness, he might as well come with me.”

“I spoke with Mahd Mela. She has some rare herbs we can try, but they are dangerous.”

Arrain sighed. “We may just have to accept that the fall did something to his head, something that we can’t fix.”

Charissa bit a knuckle, stifling a gasp. She could feel her hopes and dreams slipping away. How could they just give up on Karux? And what would she do if they did?

-=====|==

That night at supper, Charissa sat next to Karux and took his hand. He turned a weary smile on her and a faint spark of life kindled in his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Much better now that you’re here.”

Charissa hugged his arm and leaned in close. “I wish I could do something to help.”

“I’m just tired. I’ll be better once I get some sleep.”

“Oh he’s just love sick, that’s all.”

Charissa glanced upwards, surprised to see Amantis sitting down with a trencher of food across the table from them.

“I’m sure he’ll recover nicely now that he’s back here with you.” Amantis’ mouth smiled, but his cold eyes examined her intensely.

They didn’t speak much for the rest of the meal. Charissa just tried to enjoy Karux’s presence as they ate together. Karux ate slowly, occasionally dropping his spoon. Charissa picked up a piece of food and put it in his mouth and they chuckled together. When she did it a second time, her frowning mother caught her eye from a nearby table and Charissa, embarrassed, kept her spoon to herself for the rest of the meal. When it was over, Arrain came by and laid a hand on Karux’s shoulder.

“Son, Mahd Mela has a new medicine she wants to try. She thinks it will help you sleep.”

Karux nodded, giving Charissa’s hand a squeeze under the table, then rose.

Arrain guided him away with one arm across his shoulders.

Charissa watched them go, disappearing into the lengthening shadows as wordless anxieties swirling about her. After several moments, she remembered Amantis sitting silently across the table and braved his penetrating gaze.

“Is it true what they are saying, that Karux’s visions are back, that he spends each night screaming in horror at the sight?”

Amantis gave her a slight nod.

Charissa paused, trying to sort her fears into coherent questions. She barely noticed the copper bracelet sliding up and down her forearm as she moved it over the raw skin. “I heard Arrain talking about him to Naipho. He thinks Karux’s head may have been damaged by the fall.” She let the statement hang, the question unasked because she feared the answer he might give.

Amantis considered it, head cocked to one side as he pondered. “I don’t think so. He seemed to be getting better until we went into the mountains. I think it’s the stone.”

“The stone?”

“Yes. I know he had it on him in the mountains. He might have taken it off and hidden it when he was here in the korion.”

“He didn’t hide it,” Charissa said, “but his father did make him put it away for a while. I had no idea he had taken it with him.”

Amantis nodded. “That would be it then.”

“But what can be done?”

Amantis just shook his head thoughtfully. “It may be that a seer stone should not be used by just anyone.” He pulled a black leather pouch out and dropped it on the table, something inside hit the table with a heavy thud. “I am fortunate that, though I have seen some strange and amazing things, I have been able to handle anything it has revealed to me.”

“Does it show you the same things?” Charissa nodded toward the bag. “…the same future threats?”

“I believe so. However, my stone also finds things and I think it has found the solution to our dangers.”

Charissa’s thoughts drifted back to Karux’s worn appearance. He looked so drained of life. She sniffed back tears which threatened to spill over her blurry eyes and grimaced to stop her chin from trembling. “I’m just so worried that if this keeps up, either his mind or his body will fail, and I don’t want that to happen.”

“That is…not an unreasonable concern. If he is going to recover his rest and his health, I think you’ll have to talk him into—at least temporarily—giving you the stone.”

“Me?” Charissa gasped, nearly choking on a suppressed sob. “I—I don’t know if I could do that.” She tried again to imagine the type of horrors that might drive a man mad and shivered. “I don’t think I’d want the stone.”

“Someone needs to take it if he’s to recover. If you don’t want to hold it for him, I’d be willing to do it. I don’t think it will harm me. But you should be the one to ask him.”

Charissa’s tears began to flow down her cheeks. “Would you do that? That’s very kind of you.”

Amantis reach out a hand and covered hers, giving it a squeeze. “You know we all are worried about him. If there’s anything I can do….”

“Thank you,” she sniffed.

Hearing footsteps, Charissa turned to see Karux walking up. He seemed to have a glazed and wild look about his eyes.

“What’s going on here?” he scowled at the two of them.

Charissa snatched her hand back guiltily. “We were just talking about you.”

“You don’t look like you were thinking about me.”

“I—,” Charissa struggled to shape a reply.

“We’re concerned about your health, friend.” Amantis casually leaned one elbow back on the table.”

“And what have you decided about my health?” Karux glared.

Charissa cast a glance at Amantis as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

“You need to get some rest and soon.”

Karux looked from one to the other. The fire slowly faded from his eyes. “Mahd Mela gave me some new medicine. It makes my head feel funny. It also makes me sleepy.” His eyes blinked very slowly and he wobbled precariously on his feet.

Charissa leaped up and put her arms around him in support. “I think we need to get you back to bed.”

“Yes,” he mumbled as they walked slowly homeward.

-=====|==

Amantis watched Charissa leave, admiring her walk from behind. Why hadn’t he noticed her before these two had become romantically involved? She may not be as full figured as the other girls, but she still had a nice shape, and she had a very cute face with a nice smile—when it wasn’t streaked with tears. There were other attractive girls in the village, but they had less personality and less spirit than the goats they tended. Charissa seemed different. She wasn’t childishly silly and she seemed genuinely caring. Her only real fault was her taste in boys. But if Karux continued degenerating as he was, even that might change.

Amantis rose, picked up the seer stone’s bag and gazed into the shadows that had shrouded his view of Charissa. Maybe he should consult the stone about her.

10: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

A few days later they set off again, this time for the farm lands of the south. Amantis watched another bittersweet parting between the two lovers, but noticed Karux seemed less attentive as Charissa clung to him before letting him go. He couldn’t remember hearing Karux’s howling last night, perhaps the new medicine worked, though Karux seemed more of a sleep walker than usual.

They took their goats south, grazing the stubble of the newly harvested fields and leaving valuable manure behind as fertilizer. The farmers often brought them food and gave them places to camp to encourage their repeated visits each year. As they neared N’shia-Potoma, Amantis noticed some of the farm boys giving him and the other wolf-hunters dirty looks. He’d laugh at them, which didn’t exactly endear him to the locals, so he made sure he always had at least a couple of wolf-hunters armed with staves around him at all times.

Being so close to N’shia-Potoma, it was a simple matter to pick up the bronze spearheads. They kept the spear points hidden from the adults for fear they would disapprove, while quietly preparing their staves to become spears. They all knew they’d get the chance to use them when winter and the drwg came.

As autumn faded into fall, Amantis watched the skies with growing unease. He hadn’t actually received a vision of the future when he looked into the black depths of his seer stone. The moving lights had simply told him what to say. He had been confident the wolves, driven over the mountains by a long hard winter, would attack their animals, but as the weather remained unseasonably warm and dry, he began to worry. When they had finally turned their herds back toward the hills and the first frost appeared in the morning as a faint dusting on the ground outside their tents, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He learned from Arrain that Karux still suffered from his nightly terrors, but the medicine Mahd Mela had given him blunted the visions, so he mostly just tossed and groaned all night. His appearance hadn’t improved any, but at least everyone else could sleep.

By the time they began the trip back to the village, even the goats seemed to be in a hurry to get home. They made the journey quickly and soon the young children who always served as sentinels, watching for their older brothers and their fathers return, set up the cry that they were back. The whole village of Korion-Garanth came out to greet them. Wives and daughters took their missed loved ones into their arms and smothering them in kisses.

Amantis stood alone, making sure the last of the goats were properly secured. No one came to welcome him. He stood watching Charissa run up and wrap herself around Karux and his stomach clenched in an angry knot.

Somehow, he would find a way to change this.

-=====|==

A cold dry wind pushed weakly, yet persistently, against Karux’s back, urging him down the wide road gouged through the dead gray landscape. On either side of the road, rough wooden poles shoved into the ground marked a boundary he dare not look at much less cross. He kept his eyes on the formless gray clouds, ignoring the shadowy silhouettes and profiles of friends and loved ones that fell across him as he passed each pole. He had walked down this road many dreams before and knew with terrifying intimacy what grisly trophies they bore aloft.

A strange pyramidal shape rose on the horizon, a structure of fired clay bricks in a mocking imitation of the sacred mountain itself.

Karux refused to look at the decaying ghost village surrounding it, or the horrifying rotting debris that lay scattered through its streets. This time he turned his eyes to the richly robed figure standing on top of the brick mountain and began to climb with grim determination.

“We succeeded, Karux!” Amantis said as Karux crested the mound. Amantis spun around in rich, linen robes soaked in blood, his arms spread wide to embrace the barren countryside. “We united the tribes. We brought them to the mountain and showed them the path of return.”

From the top of the mound Karux saw hundreds if not thousands of naked, mutilated bodies of men, women and children spread throughout the streets and fields for miles. They lay in a carefully arranged and intricate pattern.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Though he had lived with the horror every night for months, the sight still froze the breath within him. The whole scene reminded him of a sales agreement incised in a slab of wet clay. He could see what Amantis had traded but wondered what he had traded these lives for and whom the strange symbol represented. Then he looked up.

Millions of crows blackened the sky, swirling in a circle over the mound like a storm cloud.

“It seems you’ve united the crows as well.”

Within the circle of crows lay a deeper blackness, a circle of darkness as infinite as the Void, except that the Void seemed to stare back. Sensing the hovering awareness, Karux knew with absolute certainty, with whom Amantis had traded. They were the spirits who had chosen death, the never born, and the enemies of creation. It was the n’kroi.

-=====|==

Tossing and turning, Karux awoke in a sweat. He threw back the piles of blankets and furs and sat up on his sleeping pallet. For one horrible moment, he thought he’d fallen into the cold Void but then he saw the dimly glowing coals banked in the fire pit and heard his father’s gentle snoring and realized he was home. At least he hadn’t awakened anyone with his screaming.

He sat up. The cold winter chill brought a clarity of thought he hadn’t enjoyed in many days. He felt as if a fever had broken, complete with the light-headed and loose-jointed feel. A sudden pounding on the door made him jump, shattering the strange peace.

“Arrain! Wake up!” Naipho’s voice called from outside. The door opened and Naipho leaped inside bringing a wave of arctic air with him that made the previously cold stone house seem hot in comparison.

“Uncle Naipho?”

“Is that you, Karux?” He was nothing more than a shadow in the dim glow of the coals.

“Yes.”

“How are you doing?”

It was funny how everyone had stopped asking him that of late. He must have looked bad enough that everyone thought they knew or didn’t want to know the answer. “Pretty well, actually….”

“Good, because we’re going to need your help.”

Arrain walked in shrugging on a coat. “What’s the problem Naipho?”

“The temperature is still dropping. If it gets any colder we’re going to start losing animals.”

“The stoma?” Arrain asked.

“I think so.”

“What about the women and children?”

“It’s going to be very cramped in there.”

“They should be fine in their houses as long as they have a fire. Let’s get the animals moved first.”

“Very well. Karux, you round up the other boys and see if you can get some firewood up to the cave.”

“Sure, uncle Naipho.” Karux pulled on an extra pair of stockings, his boots, coat, hat and mittens and followed the men outside. The air was deathly still, but the commons were a barely controlled chaos of men obscured by heavy coats running to the pens and trying to coax reluctant goats to get up and move. Karux found Theris and Macander wrestling with a gate stuck in a snow drift. “The adras are going to take care of the goats, we need to gather what firewood we can and bring it to the stoma.”

“Right, I’ll go get more help,” Macander suggested.

“I’ll get us some donkeys,” Theris said.

“And I’ll get some rope so we can pack it all,” Karux finished. He ran to a shed where he snatched up several heavy and stiff coils and hurried back to the barn where the donkeys were kept. Theris had just managed to attach the leads and drag the first of the reluctant animals outside.

Garick and Bazma ran up with full armloads of wood. “Mac said you needed wood.”

“Yeah, tie them into bundles.” Karux tossed a coil of rope to them as Somek appeared in the distance laden with wood.

In less than an hour, they loaded the wood, gathered the animals and headed into the hills for a stoma they had used in the past as an emergency shelter. It only took a minute or two to reach it and soon they were jammed into a space barely large enough to hold them and their animals.

Much like a cave, a stoma was a perfectly round Void that had formed within the bedrock. Where one stoma was found others were often nearby, joined together like a chain of soap bubbles. The stoma Karux’s tribe used, had cracked open by some movement of the land that had raised the hill over it. It was half filled with soil and debris which formed a flat floor.

Karux and the boys piled the wood before the entrance and built a fire. Once they had secured the animals, most of the fathers went home to check on their families, intending to return to the stoma in shifts to watch the animals. Those on the first shift settled in, hunkering down for a long cold night of waiting.

“This is pretty odd weather,” Arrain sighed as he warmed his hands.

Naipho shrugged. “We’ve had cold spells before. Granted most winters don’t get this bad…”

“Or last this long,” Arrain said. “A sennight maybe a fortnight of light frosts and that’s usually it. We’re well into spring.”

“We’ve had snow in spring before.”

“Once in a long while—early spring maybe—not like this.”

Naipho shrugged again and the men stared into the fire thoughtfully. Not long afterwards, howls rose up in the distance.

“Wolves,” Arrain said.

Naipho shook his head. “Their voices are too deep. Those aren’t normal wolves.”

“Drwg?”

“Yes. Dire wolves.”

Karux looked at Theris, who passed a look to Garick who looked at Amantis.

“I wish we had brought our spears,” Naipho grumbled.

“Just as I foresaw,” Amantis muttered, then gestured to the other boys to follow him into the back of the stoma. Goats had packed the chamber so tightly they had to climb over fallen rocks and crawl down narrow stone shelves along the wall to get around the animals. A small room, little more than a shallow alcove off the back of the main chamber, had hidden their spears over the last two months of training. With the falling snow, not much training had occurred. Karux watched the boys grin as they held their spears again.

The bronze spearheads flashed firelight across the walls like mirrors as they scrambled back to the cave’s entrance.

“Hey!” Arrain scowled. “Where did you get those?”

“We had them made last spring,” Karux said.

“Is this more of that hunters and wolves stuff?”

Karux grimaced. “You didn’t think we were just playing did you?”

“Why do they have spearheads at both ends of the shaft?” Naipho asked with an incredulous frown.

Amantis stepped up next to him, his face firm with grim determination. “It gives us twice the chance to stick something.” He looked at the other boys gathered round, spears in hand. “Let’s go.”

“Wait a minute.” Arrain rose and reached for Karux’s spear. “I don’t think you should go.”

Karux jerked his spear away. “We’ve trained with these; we know how to use them.”

Naipho laughed. “Aw, go ahead and let them, Arrain. You know the wolves will run away before they even get close.”

Arrain paused thoughtfully, concern in his eyes. “Very well.” He sat back down. “But don’t go beyond the korion. I don’t want you boys out running off in the woods in this weather.”

“We won’t,” Karux called over his shoulder as they ran out of the stoma. They heard more howling as they neared the village.

“That sounds close,” Theris said.

They stopped and listened intently to the faint moan of wind through barren trees.

“I think it came from this direction.” Theris started toward the brook.

“Uncle Arrain said to not leave the korion,” Macander called out.

“I’m not! I’m just having a look.”

“Come back,” Macander insisted.

Something in the darkness nearby snarled a deep-throated animal sound that was almost like a groan.

Theris shuffled back to the group of boys who raised their spears.

A black shape approached through the moonlit shadows, accompanying by snuffling, growling and the rattle of chains.

Karux tightened his grip as five dire wolves stalked into the commons. Each was the size of a bear and could look a man in the eye without rising up on its hind legs.

We’re not ready for this, he thought.

To their credit, they didn’t drop their spears and run away as Karux had feared they might. Instead, their training kicked in and they formed a defensive circle with Theris, Pronos and Somek in the front, Karux and Garick a step behind on either side, and Macander, Amantis and Bazma behind them ready to close up the back. The three in front jammed their spears into the ground and leaned them forward and as they did so, they heard a deep and evil laugh.

A monstrous figure stood in the shadows, half again as tall as a tall man and nearly twice as wide. It laughed and tossed the chains to the ground, drawing a knife. The knife looked small in its hand, though it was nearly as long as Garick’s arm.

The chains hit the ground and the wolves leaped forward.

The front line tensed.

Karux raised his spear a little higher, prepared to leap in and protect Theris.

The three closest wolves leaped while the other two veered to the sides.

Theris, Pronos and Somek dipped their spearheads, lining them up with the wolves’ chins. The wolves struck with sickening thuds, impaling themselves on the spears growling and thrashing. One got a fang into Theris’ arm and carved a deep gash.

Karux and Garick rushed forward from the sides and put their spears into two of the wolves, quickly finishing them. The third wolf bucked and leaped about until it fell off Pronos’ spear and limped whimpering back to the dark shape holding the long knife. It lay at the monster’s feet whimpering as its life bled out.

The other two wolves circled the group, each pausing at a spot behind, crouched low and ready to charge. The monster stepped over the dying wolf and trudged forward.

The blood pounded in Karux’s head. Though his cheeks and nose still burned from the cold, fire filled the rest of his body. He looked around and saw Macander’s frightened expression and Theris struggling to hold his spear up. “If we get caught between the monster and the drwg, we’re dead,” Karux warned.

“Theris, Pronos, Somek and I will rush the monster,” Amantis said. “When we go, the wolves will chase us. Karux and Garick, you stop them. Mac and Baz, you help make sure the wolves don’t get around them. Everybody got it?”

The monster had taken several steps forward and was nearly upon them.

“Got it,” the others echoed.

“Go!”

The front line rushed forward. Pronos beat the rest to the monster who had just enough time to raise his blade, but not enough time to swing it before the spear took him in the guts.

As predicted, the wolves leaped for the runners. Karux and Garick stepped in front of them, spears ready though they didn’t have time to set the spears in the ground. Despite all the hay bales Amantis had flung at them, the force of the impact still stunned Karux. The spear slipped through Karux’s mittened hands and the ravening wolf’s teeth flashed near his throat. Macander dove in with his spear and took the animal from the side.

Garick caught his wolf on his spear. He yanked his weapon from the crippled beast, leaving it for Bazma to finish off, and charged headlong toward the monster.

Staggering backwards from Pronos’ attack, the monster lashed out with his blade. Pronos ducked under it and Theris shoved his spear into the thing’s chest while Somek struck from the opposite side.

The creature roared and caught Somek on the side of the head with the back of his blade. Somek crumpled. His spear flew spinning away.

The horror turned and raised its blade. The spears lodged in its chest were yanked from Theris’ and Pronos’ hands. It roared “Hw’aeida eid oen!” and Theris and Pronos staggered backwards disarmed.

The creature charged into the moonlight. It wore hardened leather over gray-green skin the texture of gravel. Karux froze at the sight. He had heard legends of the angorym, the “eaters of pain”. They were cruel monsters who ate their victims alive, skillfully carving off pieces of flesh and eating it raw while keeping their victims alive to watch.

Pronos staggered backwards and fell.

The blade descended toward him with the angoran’s massive weight behind it.

Garick charged forward, his spear aiming for its heart.

The angoran saw Garick’s attack and turned in mid-strike.

Garick’s spearhead struck the hardened leather on the monster’s chest, his tip scoring a deep groove across the armor.

The angoran’s blade came down, cutting through Garick’s thick winter clothes into his shoulder and carving a wide gash across his chest.

Garick fell, sending a spray of blood across the snow.

The angoran roared and at that moment Amantis, who had circled to its side, thrust his spear into its throat. Amantis pulled the razor-sharp spearhead out through the creatures’ windpipe, reducing its roar to a gurgling wheeze.

It staggered, dropped to its knees and fell on its face, dead.

11: Special Note From The Author

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